The Essence of Magic
by Lullaby121
Summary: Sequel to Angel's Treasure. Though the planeswalkers have found two pieces of Serra's Lost Treasure the third one remains a mystery and more immediate challenges are rising before them.
1. Chapter 1

Jace yawned. Now that they were in the middle of winter break he had nothing to do. He hadn't bothered with the curtains. It didn't even matter what was Ral's and what was his anymore. He stopped caring. As long as Ral didn't wake him up at god awful times of the morning then everything was fine. The two of them had gotten so much stuff on Christmas that the curtains would've only gotten in the way anyway. Jace had moved the stuffed animals under his bed, or onto it because Ral had gotten him one to three for nearly every day they'd been on this world, and put a bookshelf between his bed and his desk. He'd put a second one between his bed and the door. Ral had helped him set up the computer on the desk though Jace hadn't touched it since then. He glanced out the window. Everything was white. The room was warm but he didn't doubt it was cold outside.

It was January. Winter break was almost over so everyone was getting in some last minute games in the snow before school started back up in two days. Jace personally would more than enjoy school starting back up. It meant Ral would stop bugging him to play in the snow. _Wow. We've almost been here a whole year. Time here is so fast. We arrived in May of last year. Last year. We've been here for a while._

"Cat Ears!" Ral opened the door, "Come play in the snow."

"Last time I did that it didn't end well," Jace reminded him. Last time he'd played in the snow Michael and David had decided to dump a bucket of snow on his head. Being the shortest person in the school it wasn't hard to pick on him. He'd ended up sick for the next three days.

"C'mon. Michael and David have promised to leave you alone. Besides, we're gonna build a giant snowman!"

"No," Jace shook his head, "I'm not playing with you. You guys are mean."

"You are playing with us!" Ral went into the closet and grabbed Jace's coat.

Jace curled up deeper under his blanket. _He wouldn't be able to catch me if he tried anyway. Of course the only place to run would be outside. Then someone, probably Chandra or Alice would catch me._

Alice had started hanging out more with her fellow students instead of hiding in her books now that everything had mellowed out. Echo had managed to isolate most of their protocols. Leisa was currently learning how to work with the Athena protocol instead of fighting with it. Hades had decided to stay at the school and was outside in the snow, helping with the snowman. Jace didn't worry much about his protocol. It had never actually been able to win anyway. Echo had suggested he learn to work with it as well but he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the idea.

Ral started bouncing the bed, "Cat Ears! We're building a snowman! It's gonna be bigger than the Christmas tree!"

"Is that thing still outside?" Jace snapped.

"Well yeah. Why would we take it down?"

"Maybe because it's not Christmas anymore," Jace said.

"Then you go take care of it."

"No," Jace shook his head.

Ral started pulling on the blanket, "Come help us with the snowman!"

"No!"

Jace held onto the blanket for a moment before letting it go. He snickered as Ral fell backwards. He stepped over his roommate and out the door, "I haven't even had breakfast yet anyway." The hallway was cold. He growled in dissatisfaction and continued down the stairs into the common room. The battle with Athena and the disaster that had been the third principal of the first semester seemed like a distant memory. Jace remembered it clearly but did admit that the light air made it easy to believe everything that had happened was a dream. Of course some of them had some new scars thanks to that fiasco.

Ral appeared a few moments later, "Help up build a snowman!"

"No."

"Cat Ears!"

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

 _He was going to say that you're hair's messed up._ Kurai's voice echoed in Jace's head. Jace looked at Ral, "You were going to comment on my hair weren't you?"

"You had Kurai help you with that!" Ral cried.

"I did not!" Jace knew he was lying but Ral was gullible, "That's considered cheating and I'm actually an honest person believe it or not!"

"I don't believe it!" He was usually gullible.

"That's your choice," Jace turned away from him.

"What are you going to have for breakfast anyway?" Ral changed the subject.

Jace shrugged, "I don't know."

"Cereal?"

"No."

"Eggs."

"Gross."

"When was the last time you had eggs anyway?" Ral asked.

Jace shrugged, "I don't like eggs."

"If you haven't had them then how can you tell whether or not you like them?" Ral asked.

"They're just gross."

"Oh my god Cat Ears," Ral put his winter coat over his shoulders, "Come play in the snow. Onyx can buy something."

"I doubt he wants to spend his money on me," Jace snapped. He shook off coat and left it lying on the floor. He went to the freezer and grabbed a vanilla ice cream.

"Cat Ears! I will dress you myself and drag you into the snow if I have to!" Ral warned.

Jace ignored him.

Ral picked up his coat, "You thought I was kidding."

He continued to ignore Ral even as he put his arms in the sleeves of the coat. Eating his breakfast around Ral's insistence that he wear his coat and eventually go outside in the cold and the snow was difficult but he remained silent. Jace still had no intention of going outside but Ral wouldn't give him a choice. He had long since become resigned to the fact that no matter what he tried to do someone, whether it was Ral or Michael and David or someone else, would get him to participate in whatever activity they had planned. However he was going to take as long as possible to eat the ice cream so as push away the moment when Ral would shove him outside. He idly wondered what could have happened if one thing in his life had been different. What if he had never been part of the sick experiment in the first place? What if Chandra had never come to pick him up, even if it was against his will, before this all started? What if Chandra had never even remembered the previous loop? What if he hadn't gone back to Sun's Reprieve to warn them about the artificial copies of them that may or may not still exist?

"Why the hell are your shoes so complicated Cat Ears?"

The question pulled Jace's wandering thoughts back to the present. He looked at Ral in surprise, "They aren't that complicated."

"Says the one that wears them everyday," Ral muttered.

Jace shrugged and returned to his ice cream. _What if Bolas had never existed? Then none of this would've happened. None of the loops would've been necessary. Life would probably be boring though. Well until the next bad guy came up. There's always a bad guy. I don't really think that it's fair that the good guys and the bad guys are constantly warring with each other. There's never an end to it._ He sighed, "Why do you think people fight for good?"

"Because somebody has to do it," Ral shrugged, "Would you stop fidgeting! I'm trying to figure out your shoes and your constant movement is not helping."

"You wouldn't have to figure out my shoes if you'd just leave me alone and let me read all day," Jace said, "This is your own fault."

"Alright. You have a point there but I'm not leaving you alone so please be nice."

Jace kicked Ral, relatively lightly, in the forehead.

"Ow! Cat Ears! I just asked you to be nice!"

"That is nice," Jace smirked.

Ral growled. He finally managed to figure out the pattern to the buckles and straps and ties on Jace's shoes and pulled him to his feet, "C'mon Cat Ears! Let's go build a snowman!"

"Wait! I haven't finished breakfast-" Jace was shoved out the door and into the cold. He glared at Ral, "I said after breakfast!"

"You just said you hadn't had breakfast yet. Besides you can eat outside," Ral ran over to where Melody and Hades were rolling a relatively ball shaped piece of ice in the snow to create the beginnings of a snowman.

"You haven't even _started_ the snowman yet?" Jace asked irritably.

"There are cookies in the pantry," Melody said.

"Thanks," Jace muttered.

"She only mentioned it because you're grumpy," Kurai said from beside Ral.

Ral jumped, "When'd you get there?!"

Kurai glanced at him in amusement.

Jace stuck his tongue out at Kurai and knelt down in front of what was going to be the snowman, "Is this the bottom part?"

Hades nodded.

Jace could see his breath in front of his face. The tips of his ears were already going numb but he refused to wear a hat. There snow went up to Ral's knees at the shallowest. That meant that Jace could easily start drowning in the deeper mounds of snow. It was an odd winter, having snowed almost constantly for the entirety of it so far. Most of the Ascension City kids weren't nearly as familiar with snow as a lot of the Elendeth kids were. Ascension City was set up on a small island near the Mediterranean Sea. Jace looked around, "How big is it going to be?"

"Bigger than the tree," Melody said.

Jace glanced at the tree, "Is there even that much snow around?"

"It's deeper than it looks," Hades muttered.

"Rick fell over there and got swallowed," Melody pointed to one of the larger mounds up against the wall.

"He freaked out it was funny," Michael knelt down beside Melody, "Are these good enough?" He showed her medium sized black circular beads.

She shook her head, "The snowman's gonna be huge."

"Right. Big eyes," Michael nodded. He got to his feet, "David we need BIG eyes!"

"Big?" David looked at Onyx. Onyx sighed and walked over to his van. There were plenty of students that could drive. Most of the ones that could were not trusted to do so safely, Michael and David among them. Onyx was one of the few students that was a safe driver and wouldn't go careening down a major road just because there weren't any cars around.

Jace sighed, "So that's what they're doing huh?"

Melody shrugged, "I can always use the buttons to make a shirt or something.

"Just how many things can you do?" Hades asked curiously.

"Well...My mom and sister are always sick and so there's no one to work really," Melody explained. She didn't sound bitter or embarrassed as she spoke. "Dad's never been around anyway. I learned to cook, sew, and pretty much everything else from my grandmother when she used to live with us."

Jace whistled softly, "Wow."

Hades shook his head, "And here seventy five percent of the school at least can't even make something out of a box."

"Actually it is eighty seven point nine percent," Cain corrected as he set a large mound of snow down in front of them, "That should be enough to make it ball shaped enough that you can begin to roll it and collect more snow that way."

Melody nodded, "Thanks Cain."

He nodded, "Of course."

"Even so, no one can cook," Hades shrugged.

"Well it's not fair that most of us have never had to cook or we've never had the...opportunity to learn to cook," Jace said.

Hades nodded, "There is that."

"I don't mind cooking at all," Melody shook her head.

The three of them piled the snow onto the ice ball and then started rolling it through the snow. Jace used a small amount of magic to keep it from falling apart on them because that would piss him off. He really didn't want to deal with that. He paused, "Hey Cain!"

"Yes?"

"How big would the bottom have to be in order to support a snowman that's bigger than the Christmas tree?"

"Twenty foot diameter," Cain said instantly.

"Huh?" Jace looked at the snow around them. _That's a lot of freaking snow. Oh well._ "Fun." He turned back to the small snowball they currently had. He sighed. _I wanna go back inside._


	2. Chapter 2

Chandra yawned, "This is getting boring. I mean there's only one snowman." She picked up a handful of snow and squeezed it into a vaguely ball shape. She looked around for someone that wouldn't get mad at her for throwing it at them. Well, more like someone that would return the favor to her. Her gaze settled on Isabelle. The black haired girl had her back to her. Her pink bow was hidden underneath the cute purple and white winter hat that she wore. Chandra tossed the ball up. Her aim sucked. She knew her aim sucked. But those around Isabelle were just as likely to join into a snowball fight as she was so there was no harm done if it hit the wrong person. Unless someone unexpectedly walked into the snowball's path. She caught it. She tossed it. It hit Rick in the back. She was off. Isabelle was probably three feet from him. She sighed, "Oh well."

Rick turned in surprise and Chandra smirked at him. His eyes narrowed, accepting the challenge. He picked up some snow and threw it back at her. Chandra dodged it and grabbed some snow for herself. She hit Isabelle, making it look like she'd meant to.

Rick's eyes widened.

Isabelle turned with a malicious glint in her eyes. She used her ability to pull the snow around her off the ground. It solidified into balls and flew at Chandra. Chandra lit her right hand on fire with a lighter. The flames took the form of a double bladed scythe. She spun it to the left and then to the right. The snowballs melted as they came into contact with the flaming weapon.

Rick took small bits of the iron in the sand and mixed it with the snow in the ground. He created iron snowballs and used his ability to manipulate his new artillery.

Chandra watched the grey flecked snowballs approach her at lightning fast speeds, "Well shit." Everything seemed to slow down for a moment. She could hear Kyle running up behind her. She crouched and back flipped. She landed behind him and the ground rose up in front of him, between Rick's iron-snowballs and the two of them. The earth fell back into it's normal formation. Rick was looking at his friend indignantly, "C'mon man!"

Kyle shrugged, "She was closer."

"You lazy ass," Isabelle was obviously taking this way too seriously, like she did with every war the students had amongst themselves.

Chandra snickered, "Maybe I'm just cooler than you, Blue Eyes."

"You'll pay for that PYRO!" Isabelle lifted a giant mound off the ground using her ability and the individual snowflakes that made up the mound began to swirl around her like a blizzard.

Cristi leaped to her feet and slammed her fist into a snow pile. The snow went flying in Chandra's general direction. Caedrus stood in front of Chandra and Kyle and knocked the snow Cristi had sent at them aside with a burst of magical wind.

Kyle lifted up the earth, creating a hill that all the loose snow tumbled down like an avalanche.

Michael and David leaped to Isabelle's side and created a magical barrier against which the snow piled up against. The barrier moved closer to Chandra's group, bringing the snow piled against it with it.

Ral and Jason electrified the water that made up the snow against the barrier. The excess electricity reacted with the energy of the barrier and caused both to explode in a violent blast of icy cold electrically supercharged snow particles. Everyone, no matter what side they were on was shocked.

"Okay," Michael nodded.

"There they go again," the assistant principal shook her head in amusement. The staff of the school was gathered in the walkway to the library. It had started out peaceful. Everyone was working together to create a snowman that was bigger than the Christmas tree that everyone was too lazy to take down. Now they were at each others' throats in a playful figurative way. She was surprised they hadn't destroyed the school yet. Last time they were out in the snow it had been freezing cold and still snowing. They'd ended up devolving into play fighting then too. Although last time it was because of Michael and David dumping buckets of snow on people's heads.

The principal chuckled softly, "Where would we be without the lovely students trying to destroy our school campus?"

"We'd have a hell of a lot more peace of mind," the assistant principal said without missing a beat.

"But then we'd be bored as all get out," the PE teacher added.

"Good point," both principals nodded.

The nurse rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't have nearly as much of a desire to drink myself to my grave."

"Scathing as ever I see, Yuuna," the PE teacher snickered.

She gave him an unimpressed look but remained silent.

"At least they won't let anybody or anything else destroy the school campus," Mrs. Hills pointed out.

"And at least they aren't lazy," Mr. Rice added, "Where would we be if they let their skills get rusty?"

"Hell," the assistant principal said simply.

"That's one way of putting it," the principal shook his head in amusement.

Chandra flopped onto her bed, "That was fun."

"I'm freezing," Lilianna muttered.

"We spent all day in the snow," Chandra said.

"I realize that thank you. Not everyone is as naturally warm as you, you asinine twerp."

"Thanks for caring," Chandra yawned, "What do you wanna do now?"

"Sleep. So shut up and leave."

"Alright," Chandra got to her feet and went downstairs. The courtyard was a mess. Snow was everywhere and the snowman had never been completed. But they'd had fun all the same.

"Hey! Let's go to the zoo tomorrow!" Michael and David suggested the next morning.

"Why?" Claire asked warily.

"Because it's be fun!" David shrugged.

"Why?" Claire repeated.

Chandra laughed, "Why not?"

"It's cold," Jace suggested less than enthusiastically.

"For being such a bad ass you're really whiny," Jenny said lightly.

"Not everyone likes being cold," Tessa said calmly.

"Why the zoo?" Erin asked, "It stinks."

"There are plenty of other places we could go," Onyx added.

"I wanna go to the zoo!" David cried suddenly.

Jace glared at him, "Then go on you're own time!"

"Cat Ears. Wake up. We're going to the zoo remember."

Jace growled. Claire had ended up agreeing to the entire student body going on an all day trip to the zoo. It was mostly in order to get Michael and David to shut up. Jace had no intention of going to the zoo. It was cold outside and he didn't fancy freezing all day. "You go then. I'm staying here."

"I'll go get Rick and he can carry you!" Ral threatened way too gleefully.

Jace fixed the lightning mage to the spot with a dark look, "Do that and you'll die."

Ral grinned at him, "Okay!" He disappeared out the door.

Jace hid under his bed. _I am not going to the zoo._

 _Why not? It's obvious that everyone wants you to come._

 _So? I'm not going._ Jace watched the door carefully. He had managed to figure out how to add enough telekinetic energy to something he threw to make it very painful should it hit the person. To that end he had started collecting random small objects. He had paper clips, coins, thumb tacks, anything really.

"Jace!" Rick threw open the door with a happy grin on his face.

Jace growled and moved around his stuffed animals to where he'd hidden all the small objects he'd managed to collect. He grabbed a paper clip and charged it with a small amount of energy. He gritted his teeth as Rick walked closer to the bed.

"C'mon," Rick looked around, "Where is he anyway?"

"If I had to hazard a guess he's probably in the closet or under something," Ral shrugged.

Jace remained silent. He tossed the paper clip but twisted it to make it look like it had come from a different direction. Rick squawked in surprise as the item imbedded itself into the ground near his foot. He turned toward the closet in surprise. Jace slid out from under the bed and out the door.

"Cat Ears!" Ral shot after him.

 _It should not take this much effort to avoid going to the zoo. I mean is it really that hard?_

"There you are."

Jace turned in surprise, "Wha-Tina? What?"

"Nothing," she shrugged. Suddenly she grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm behind him.

"OW!" Jace struggled against her, "Why?"

"You'll see," her tone had a mischievous hint to it that made him nervous.

"Hey Jace!" Michael and David skipped up to him with matching grins on their faces.

Jace shook his head, "I really don't want to talk to you guys right now!"

"C'mon!" Michael begged.

"Cat Ears! It's just the zoo. It's not that bad."

"So? I don't want to go," Jace snapped.

"It's not that bad," Ral repeated, "C'mon. How can you know what it's like until you go?"

"Maybe it's not the zoo I have a problem with," Jace insisted. He tried to pull free of Tina's grasp but failed. "Maybe I just don't want to be outside in the cold and the snow and-"

"You don't want to go to the zoo," David sighed in disappointment.

"No! Not right now at least. It's too cold," Jace insisted. He glared at Tina over his shoulder, "Would you let me go?"

"Sure," she let him go only for Rick to pick him up, "C'mon. We're going to the zoo."

"No I'm not!" Jace tried to wriggle free with no success. Rick was obviously use to holding someone that struggled. Jace had seen Kyle fight with him over being picked up. Rick was one of the tallest people in the school and relatively strong. He sighed and gave up, "I don't want to. Why are you guys always dragging me along on your stupid-"

"Because you wouldn't do anything but mope if we didn't, Cat Ears," Ral said as though it was obvious.

"I do not mope thank you very much!" Jace snapped.

Rick winced, "If you're going to lash out at least do it at the person your anger is directed towards instead of an innocent bystander."

"Don't play innocent in this!" Jace snarled, "Who's the one carrying me to the bus that's going to take me where I don't want to go? Put me down!"

"Alright," Rick shrugged.

"Huh?" Jace stared at him before being set down on what felt like a blanket. In an instant Michael and David had it folded over him and he was being carried wrapped up in a blanket. "Hey! This isn't what I meant!"

"You really should be more specific with your wording then," David said.

Jace hissed angrily, "Why are you all so insistent that I do this?!"

"Cause annoying you is fun," Michael said with a chuckle.

Jace kicked at him, resulting in a squeak of surprise. Unfortunately he didn't actually hit Michael. "I'm so sick of you guys!" _I'll just stay on the bus then. Since they aren't giving me a choice in the matter. This is so frustrating but I don't want to actually hurt them._ "I'm done with your crap! I'm never doing anything with you guys again!" He started thrashing to see if that would get them to drop the blanket they were using to carry him.

"Who's that?" Jenny squeaked.

"Jace," Michael said instantly.

"Lucky. I wish I could be carried like that."

 _That's not exactly what's going on here. I didn't ask for this._ Jace bit his lower lip and just remained silent.

"Let's just say...he's not pleased with the idea of going to the zoo," Tina explained.

"Oh," Jenny shrugged, "Jace usually isn't outwardly pleased with anything." She smiled, "But he'd miss it if you guys stopped annoying him."

"I would NOT!" Jace yelled angrily.

"We can test that actually!" Ral grinned excitedly.

"I won't miss it," Jace insisted.

"Okay," Michael and David exchanged glances, "After the zoo then?"

Rick nodded, "Sure."

 _At least I'll finally have peace and quiet._ Jace sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

Chandra stood on an empty plain. She looked around in confusion.

"I brought you here because you have questions don't you?" Orriyon materialized in front of her.

"Yeah actually. I have Espers and according to you I also have a protocol. If I have a protocol then why was I still able to fight Athena even after everyone else was pulled under it's affects?"

"You're protocol was never completed. In the beginning you were meant to be Ares. Your rage and destructive power led to that conclusion. But after studying you they noticed that you also had the characteristics desired for the Athena Project. Speed, Agility. They wanted Ares to be indomitable and long lasting. The Ares project put emphasis on endurance and cleverness. You possessed those but you were not a tank. You were fast and outmaneuvered your opponents physically. Therefore they put you in the Athena Project along with Jace and everyone else here as well as Lucy."

Chandra nodded, "So then what happened."

"The protocol was never completed because no matter what they did it was never powerful enough to override you," Orriyon continued, "Eventually you managed to escape. When you did so, you were found by Sorin. He took you in but you were allowed to do whatever. In one of your wanderings you came into contact with a planeswalker named Sarkhan Vol. He showed you the scroll that contained the spell that got you where you are now."

Chandra stared at her. It did kind of make sense. The reason she used the scroll was probably something along the lines of "It has to be better than this".

"You are lucky that you ended up with the memories you had of the last loop. If it had been any other you would've been extremely confused and more than likely very different."

"Brilliant," Chandra sighed. She put her hands on her hips and studied the blond girl in front of her, "Why are you blond? It's said that the Esper has similarities in appearances with their original. You couldn't look more different from Jace though."

"Look into my eyes," Orriyon said.

Chandra did as she was bid. The girl's eyes were blue which was similar but they were crystalline instead of the deeper sapphire color of Jace's, "Okay. So they're blue."

"Exactly," Orriyon nodded. She looked away from her, "The reasoning behind my appearance is not my story to tell. I am not just Jace's Esper. I was created from both Jace and Vadanya. Both of them have something inside them that they are yet to be aware of. A kind of power that...isn't within their normal ability range. Just like you," Orriyon looked at her again.

Chandra cocked her head to the side, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"All will be made clear. I promise," Orriyon smiled, "However this is not the proper place. Serra's Lost Treasure is more than just a treasure. It was the mean's through which a goddess kept track of all the different time lines. It holds every event from every loop within it. Bring the Medallion and the Ring together and you can see what really happened and the true reasoning behind everything that has happened up to this point." Orriyon started to disappear.

"Hold on a second!" Chandra snapped, "I am not done talking to you yet!"

"Bring the Medallion and the Ring together," Orriyon disappeared into flecks of multicolored light.

"Multicolored?" Chandra stared at the flecks as they floated into the air. _Usually it would be one maybe two colors right?_ She shook her head, "Whatever."

"We're going to the zoo remember."

Chandra felt someone jerk her roughly.

"Would you get up already? Now is not the time to hibernate!"

"Alright. Alright, jeez, Zombie lover," Chandra yawned and slapped Lilianna's hand away from her.

"Why am _I your_ alarm clock anyway?" Lilianna put her hands on her hips and glared down at her.

"I don't know. Why am I your entertainment?" Chandra shrugged.

"When was the last time I toyed with you?" Lilianna asked.

"How about just now because there's still TWO HOURS before we even have to get up!" Chandra snapped, "And don't you dare tell me we have student council crap to do because that's not for another hour and a half."

Lilianna smirked, "Serves you right."

"For what?!" Chandra snapped.

"Ladies."

"Sorry," Chandra muttered. She sat up and glared at Lilianna, "C'mon. There's no need for you to be cruel."

"There is nothing cruel about this situation," Lilianna stated. She turned her back on her roommate and walked across the room. She turned back to her, "What are you going to do?"

"About what?"

"The treasure. You have the...ring if I am not mistaken but Jace refuses to give up the piece he has," Lilianna pointed out.

"I do have the ring," Chandra nodded, "And I don't have a clue what I'm going to do with it."

"You walked into this without a plan? Sounds just like you," Lilianna rolled her eyes.

"I'm not big on plans. It's better just to make something up as you go along anyway."

Her conversation with Lilianna rang through her head the whole way to the zoo. It was set up just outside the city. Why the principal had agreed to a last minute zoo trip was beyond her. _Michael and David brought Jace along. He doesn't look too happy about that fact though._ He was curled up against the window and glared out of it angrily.

"Cat Ears! Let's go look at the cats!" Chandra choked back a laugh at the ugly look Jace gave Ral. She patted Jace on the head, "Don't be grumpy. Today is a day to have fun."

"It's cold outside," Jace snapped.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "Michael and David could always drag you out of the bus again." She followed Erin, Jenny and Tina out of the bus, "So guys. What do you want to do?"

Jenny shrugged and pulled a 1.75 liter bottle of lemonade.

Erin stared at her as she opened it, "Are you sure you can drink all that?"

"I'm thirsty," Jenny shrugged. She tipped her head back and started drinking from the bottle.

"That's a big thirsty," Erin said in amazement.

Jenny gagged and choked.

Chandra started laughing, "Wow. Alright."

"Don't die Jenny," Tina said flatly.

"I'm okay!" Jenny said once she could speak around her coughing.

"Still okay?" Chandra asked once the blond girl finally stopped coughing.

Jenny nodded. Suddenly she fixed Erin with a maniacal grin.

Erin's eyes widened, "I'm sorry!" He turned and darted off. Jenny left her lemonade in Tina's care and shot after him in an over exaggerated rage. Tina shrugged and uncapped the lemonade.

"You're seriously going to drink out of it?" Chandra looked at her, "I thought you didn't like lemonade."

Tina shrugged again and took a big gulp. She then closed it, "Jenny won't notice."

Chandra shook her head, "So. What are we doing? It'd be great if we could get moving before our feet freeze to the ground."

The zoo was like a maze. Everything was placed logically but there were plenty of places where someone could get lost. Unfortunately Chandra had a terrible sense of direction. Tina wasn't much better either.

"We're lost," Tina said evenly, "Jenny's already begun planning her 'feel bad for me' sob story about her lemonade."

"I swear that girl has way too much energy," Chandra looked at her companion, "We are lost. Oh well. We can always walk home if it comes down to it."

"It's cold AS HELL!" Tina snapped, "I'm _not_ walking anywhere."

"Then sit," Chandra motioned to a snow covered bench.

"No," the brunette shook her head angrily.

"Right. Right," Chandra rolled her eyes. She did a purposefully terrible impression of her friend, "Don't you dare suggest I actually put effort into something. Phoenix you vile monster!"

Tina's green eyes flashed, "You know that's not what I meant and I do not sound like that!"

"Yes you do," Chandra nodded. She sighed and looked around, "Now what? We're lost."

"We can't walk home because you don't even know where that is!" Tina snapped angrily.

"Shut up," Chandra glared at her, "You don't know how we'd go about getting their either. Besides. I never said-"

"What're you guys arguing about?" Isabelle asked curiously. Yuri stood next to her with his head cocked to the side. Both of them looked amused.

Chandra looked at her and then at Tina, "See. There won't be any walking involved."

Tina growled in frustration.

"Walking?"

"We got lost because that one-"

"Hold on a moment," Chandra interrupted, "This is not entirely my fault. I don't want to hear-"

Michael and David's trouble song played all across the zoo.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "Great."

"What have those two done now?" Tina sighed.

"Well. I guess that means we're going home now," Yuri said evenly.

"Probably." The four of them returned to the bus. All the students that came to the zoo knew that they were going back to the school now that Michael and David had gotten in trouble. The twins came darting around a corner with Ral and Rick hot on their heels.

"Aren't you two the ones that wanted to come to the zoo in the first place?" Claire snapped.

Michael shrugged and flopped into a seat.

Chandra shook her head and sat next to Lilianna, "So...you stayed in the bus didn't you?"

Lilianna looked at her dryly, "Do you really think I'd go out in the snow and the cold to stare at animals in enclosures?"

"No," Chandra shook her head, "Actually I don't. However you are the one that got me up before the sun this morning."

The bus pulled out of the zoo parking lot and began the relatively long drive back to the school.


	4. Chapter 4

"What the-?"

"Here you go!" Michael handed Jace something wrapped in a blanket before he could finish his question. David and he ran off.

Jace stared after them in confusion. Whatever was wrapped in the blanket was alive and it started moving, attempting to get free. It was relatively heavy and large. Jace panicked and used magic to put it to sleep quickly. He carried it up to Michael's room, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Keep it."

"Take care of it."

"What is...it?" Jace asked curiously. He couldn't reposition his arms without dropping whatever it was to move the blanket.

"A baby tiger."

Jace's eyes widened, "A…WHAT?! Is that why you guys got in trouble at the zoo? How'd you even get it?! I can't take care of it!"

"It's fine. We might have borrowed her but her mother died, her father wanted nothing to with her and she has no siblings," Michael explained as he opened the door.

"Wait. I thought your roommate was Erin," Jace said as he saw David in the background.

"Oh. Erin and I swapped places," David grinned.

"I don't know how to take care of a tiger," Jace stared at the blanket he was holding, "She's heavy."

"She's a _tiger_ ," David said.

Jace glared at him, "I know that. Tigers are big cats. I'm just complaining." He swallowed nervously, "Tigers eat meat huh?"

"Yeah," Michael shrugged.

"Ral can feed her," David suggested as Jace paled.

Jace cocked his head to the side, "Maybe." He carried the now sleeping tiger to his room, "What if she eats me?"

"What if who eats you?" Kaious asked. He flew up and landed on Jace's head, "Did you enjoy the zoo trip?"

"Michael and David stole a baby tiger," Jace said. He unwrapped the blanket and stared at the cat that was now sleeping on his pillow.

Kaious' eyes widened, "They stole...a tiger? How'd they get a tiger? Well at least it's not a lion."

"I don't care if it's a lion or a tiger or a leopard. I can't take care of a big cat. Besides owning one is illegal."

"I didn't know you cared," Kaious teased.

"That isn't the point!" Jace snapped. "I can barely deal with-" He cut off as the door opened.

"Hey Cat Ears," Ral grinned, "How's the tiger? Have you named her yet?"

"I'm not keeping her."

"Yes you are," Ral picked his way through the mess that was their room and flopped onto his bed.

"No I'm not," Jace insisted.

"You already love her. Don't even lie," Ral smirked.

"Owning a big cat is illegal," Jace insisted.

"And? This is Elendeth City. In case you hadn't noticed I doubt anyone's gonna worry about a tiger that's walking around," Ral reminded him.

Jace sighed. It looked like a tiger. He didn't know the different subspecies of tiger so he couldn't identify anything beyond that. He'd never seen a need to look deeply into tigers. They were pretty but they were also either in captivity or in the wild. He knew it wouldn't matter if he had a tiger anywhere else in the multiverse. However the tiger wouldn't be able to leave this world and in this particular part of the world at least owning one was illegal. He would assume that it was illegal in most of the world as well.

"Cat Ears."

"What?"

"School starts tomorrow," Ral whined dramatically.

"Oh."

"What the hell happened to reading everything about the world anyway?" Ral asked.

"I did."

"Did you brain dump it?"

"No," Jace shook his head, "There is such a thing as skimming you know."

"So you haven't looked into tigers nor have you looked into how this country works?" Ral asked.

"Not in depth no," Jace shook his head.

"What else did you skim over?" Ral asked.

"Everything that wasn't very interesting," Jace shrugged.

"Is this world really that boring?" Ral asked.

Jace shrugged, "Maybe not but everything a 'normal' place would know about is."

"Oh. That sucks," Ral sighed. He looked at him, "What's the tiger's name?"

Jace rolled his eyes, "I'm not keeping her."

"Yes you are. And even if you aren't she needs a name," Ral pointed out.

Jace sighed, "I'm not good at names."

Ral sat quietly for a moment, "Well. You could call her Tigris."

"No."

"Aveli?"

"No."

"Emerald?"

"She's not green."

"That's a no then? Um. Storm?"

"No."

"Tempest!" Kaious called out suddenly.

Jace looked at him for a moment, "No."

"C'mon. Tempest the tiger!" Kaious nodded, "I like it."

"I don't," Jace shrugged.

"So?" Ral asked.

"If she's going to be my tiger then I'm the one that chooses her name!" Jace insisted.

"You said so yourself that you're awful at names," Ral reminded him.

"So? I'll think of something."

"It took you twenty four years to come up with a name for me and even then I chose my own name," Kaious said evenly.

Jace glared at him and pouted, "So?"

"You can't just call her tiger. She won't live as long as I will," Kaious said.

"I know that," Jace snapped, "I'll come up with something."

"That's it. We're calling the tiger Tempest," Ral shook his head in amusement.

"No," Jace insisted.

"It's a fine name!" Kaious said.

Jace sighed, "Fine. Fine. The tiger's name can be Tempest."

Ral grinned, "Alright!"

Jace opened his eyes to a rough tongue licking the side of his face, "Ah. Hey. Stop it," He sat up quickly and looked at the tiger. She looked back at him calmly. _Why haven't you eaten me? I mean I know tiger's don't necessarily eat people…_ "Hey Kaious."

"Hm?" The dragon flew up and landed on Jace's head.

"Why is she so mellow?" Jace glanced up even though he couldn't see the dragon very well, "I mean shouldn't being in such a small unfamiliar place be irritating?"

"Well," Kaious cocked his head to the side thoughtfully, "Have you used magic on her?"

"No-Yeah," Jace admitted after a moment, "Michael and David gave her to me in a rush and she started squirming."

"Did you use mana when casting the spell? I don't think you would but it's an important detail."

"No," Jace shook his head.

"Then that would be why," Kaious explained patiently, "When magic is used on an animal then there's a small chance that a bond will be formed between the caster of the spell and the animal that is the subject."

Jace stared at the tiger, "But I just wanted her to be still."

"Well, it looks like you get an eternal furry friend!" Kaious dropped down and landed next to Tempest, "She'll live as long as you do and will only respond to a situation with violence if you do." He rested his silvery tail across the cub's shoulders, "And she'll go wherever you go."

"She won't stay in here?" Jace sighed, "I guess that was too much to hope for."

"At least she doesn't need to eat."

"Huh?" Jace looked at him curiously.

"Her existence is now fueled by yourself," Kaious said simply.

"Have you been here before?" Jace asked curiously.

"Nope," Kaious shook his head, "I have however spent some time with a mage that had extensive knowledge of magic that wasn't powered by mana."

"Oh," Jace sighed. He looked at the clock, "There's still two hours till class. I'm going to see what there is to eat." Tempest followed him out of the room.

"Ah, Jace," Kurai turned as Jace came down the stairs.

"Oh. Kurai," Jace rolled his eyes, "When are you going to do what you said you wanted to be brought here to do?"

"When he returns from wherever he is now," Kurai shrugged, "Destroying him without apparent reason would be frowned upon by many you currently associate with. However once he makes an obvious move they'll all want him dead."

"Then why not just wait till then?" Jace snapped.

Kurai shrugged, "I've been helpful haven't I?"

"For now. How long will that last?" Jace asked evenly.

"You are my summoner. If you were to be destroyed then I'd have to wait longer than I'd like to return here," Kurai glanced at him, "Also, since you are my summoner you could theoretically force me to obey your commands."

"I'd rather not," Jace said evenly.

"Then I will do this my way," Kurai shrugged, "And I'm sure that deep down you understand my reluctance to act first in this situation. I'd rather not incite any further distrust in the angels that are currently in your company."

"You're a demon lord. Why bother helping us out in the first place?" Jace asked.

"Ah. I was wondering if you knew the full extent of what I was and what I could do," Kurai chuckled. He sat down at the table with a box of crackers. He held one out to Jace.

Jace sat next to him and took it after a moment.

"So you do trust me," Kurai shook his head in mixed amusement and amazement, "I was beginning to wonder."

"You didn't answer my question, Kurai," Jace reminded him as he nibbled on the cracker.

"Well. I was bored with my situation and really annoyed by Xerxes' existence," Kurai shrugged.

Jace rolled his eyes, "Somehow I don't think that was all of it."

"The rest of it is complicated," Kurai smirked.

Jace raised an eyebrow.

Kurai shrugged, "You came down here for a reason?" He grabbed a couple of crackers before rising to his feet and disappearing back up the stairs. _You're an odd one Jace. You swear you hate everyone here and yet you'll sacrifice so much for people you don't know and sometimes ones don't even like._

Jace glared after him, "Whatever." He glanced at the box of crackers before putting them back in the cabinet.

Tempest followed him. She didn't get under his feet though. She sat down as Jace paused to look through the refrigerator for something to eat. He was a picky eater so he usually didn't eat much.

"He pisses me off," Jace muttered.

Tempest looked at him curiously.

"What? He does," Jace insisted. _Why is he...vague?_

 _If you don't like it then why are you vague?_

"Shut up," Jace muttered.

Tempest stood suddenly.

Jace turned and followed the tiger's gaze. Standing in the room was what looked like a projection of someone. He didn't recognize the person. The man had messy black hair and jade green eyes. He was watching him looking amused. "I guess it was too much to hope for," he shook his head, "What's up?"

Jace stared at him for a moment. _That voice…_ "Kaious?!"

"Yep," he nodded. His form changed into the silvery baby dragon Jace was used to seeing and he landed on Jace's head, "So. What's up?"

"I'm just getting food," Jace shrugged.

"Alright," Kaious nodded.

"Why-okay. So which form is your...normal form then?" Jace asked.

"Technically I'm a spirit. I'm dead," Kaious explained, "However because of that I can take any form I choose really."

"So you've been dead this entire time?"

Kaious nodded.

"That's...weird…" Jace shrugged and grabbed a small container of ice cream.

"I was honestly expecting more questions," Kaious admitted.

Jace shrugged again, "You're Kaious. It doesn't really matter what form you take."

"Alright," Kaious nodded, "Cool." He flew down and sat calmly on Tempest's back. The cat followed Jace back up the stairs. He knew Jace would have a slew of questions for him later.


	5. Chapter 5

Lilianna stared at Chandra, "She said what?"

"Bring the Ring and the Medallion together and all will be made clear," Chandra repeated.

Lilianna rolled her eyes, "Seriously? That girl never was clear."

Chandra shrugged, "That doesn't mean she wasn't helpful."

"I know. I know," Lilianna snapped, "No need to get all defensive. Then you'll have to talk to Jace and see if he'll be willing to give you the Medallion without demanding you give him the ring."

"That'll happen," Chandra muttered. She got to her feet, "Classes start back up today. Don't be late."

"I won't be. Jeez," Lilianna snapped.

Chandra found Jace in the library organizing paper clips by their sizes, "What's with all the paper clips?" Chandra asked.

Jace looked up, "Huh? Oh nothing really."

She sat down in front of him, "Really? And this has nothing at all to do with the quarter sized holes in the wall above Ral's bed?"

"He's annoying," Jace muttered.

"So you throw quarters and other things that are charged with magical energy at him," Chandra shook her head, "That is dangerous you know."

Jace shrugged, "He can handle it. He threw a smoke bomb at me."

Chandra choked back a laugh, "So you're collecting small things now so you can use them as projectiles?"

Jace shrugged again and remained silent. He continued to organize his paper clips.

"Hey!" Michael and David skipped into the library, the latter waving at the librarian as he passed.

"Huh?" Chandra looked at them dully.

"Can you guys give this to Elspeth?" Michael set down a medium sized decorated box in front of them.

"Why?" Jace asked warily. He did not plan on getting in trouble because he gave Elspeth some prank those two had fabricated.

"Cause she's awesome," David shrugged.

"What's in the box?" Chandra asked.

"Do you guys really not trust us?" Michael sounded heart broken.

"No," Jace said flatly.

David burst out laughing. Michael looked at him indignantly, "I see how it is!"

"Quiet in the library please," The librarian reminded them gently.

Chandra shook her head, "I personally wouldn't go that far but I'm sure Elspeth will want to know what's in the box."

Michael sighed, "But it's a surprise."

Jace glanced at them, "Then it's not happening. You guys can deliver that personally."

David looked at him for a moment, "You're just not having any of it are you?"

"I have a tiger cub following me around everywhere I go because of you two. Ral triggered a bucket of ice water this morning," Jace's eyes narrowed as he studied them.

Michael chuckled nervously.

"Don't look at me like that," David muttered, "He did it."

"I did not," Michael whispered, "You're the one that set it up."

"You're the one that suggested we put it above their door," David hissed.

"I am not," Michael insisted.

"Shut up and tell us what's in the box," Chandra snapped.

"We can do that if we shut up," David pointed out.

Jace smirked, "You walked into that one."

"You shush," Chandra pointed at him before turning her attention back to Michael and David, "What's in the box?"

"We'll just deliver it then," Michael picked up the box and the two of them left the library.

Chandra rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Jace. He was still organizing his paper clips, making sure they were all at the same angle and were really organized by their length. She cocked her head to the side, "Is this the kind of stuff that you do when you're bored?"

"Sometimes," Jace shrugged.

She smirked and moved one of the paper clips.

Jace hissed, "Can you not." He fixed it carefully.

"Sorry. Couldn't resist," Chandra chuckled. "Anyway, can I have the medallion?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You have the ring."

"But this is important," Chandra insisted.

"No," Jace shook his head, "I'm not going to give you the medallion. You stole the ring from me."

"Do you know how yet?" Chandra grinned.

Jace scowled and remained silent. He turned his attention back to the paper clips.

"I'll take that as a no," Chandra snickered. She sighed, "Please?"

"Why?"

"Because. They're more powerful together than they are separate. And they're supposed be some sort of information storage device that's unlocked if they're brought together," Chandra insisted.

"And?" Jace met her gaze evenly, "All the more reason for me to have them."

Chandra's eyes narrowed, "You're really annoyingly stubborn you know that?"

"Sounds like someone I know," Jace muttered.

"You're talking about me aren't you?" Chandra snapped.

"Class starts in a minute," Jace picked up the paper clips and left the library.

Chandra watched him through narrowed eyes, "Jackass."

Her schedule for the year was a little different. Student council was included on her schedule as a required after school activity. She smirked. _Probably because I didn't go to a single meeting last semester unless Lilianna or Claire managed to catch me before I got out of the main building._ She sighed, "This is dull."

"What's dull?" Jenny asked excitedly.

"Huh? Oh just...life," Chandra shrugged.

"You know," Jenny smiled, "I used to think that too. Then I had my fair share of adventure and I learned to appreciate the peace that I have now."

"Wait...did you just _not_ talk at ten thousand words per second?" Chandra stared at her for a moment.

Jenny shrugged, "I do like to talk slow sometimes you know. Even so, if you can't appreciate the peace then you'll never fully appreciate the adventures."

Chandra stared after her brown haired talkative friend, completely dumbfounded, for a moment. She shook her head and walked into her math class.

"So!" Mrs. Hills started class the moment the bell rang, "First things first guys. I think we can all agree that we've had enough excitement for this school year. Let's try to keep this semester quiet. Alright?"

The class nodded.

Chandra sighed and studied the walls beyond the teacher. Mrs. Hills was cool and all but she didn't care for math at all. She wasn't very good at it comparatively speaking and didn't see any time when she would need it unless she somehow wanted to get into a "who has more trivial knowledge" debate with Jace or Ral. She therefore tuned the teacher out for the rest of class. She'd fail. She knew that. She didn't really care all that much either.

"So. What's up?" Kyle whispered.

Chandra looked at him and shrugged.

"Rick's paying for lunch," Kyle said.

"Already? He didn't start paying until two weeks after you guys got here. Yet this semester he starts on the first day?" Chandra rolled her eyes.

"Well he is trying to get rid off all of his money," Kyle shrugged. He opened his water bottle.

Chandra shrugged. "And this doesn't have anything at all to do with Isabelle," she muttered sarcastically. _Is every high school all gossip and talk? I wouldn't be surprised if it was._

Kyle choked on his water.

Chandra snickered.

 _Hey Chandra?_

 _Finally figured out telepathy Jace?_ Chandra smirked.

 _You're in a snide mood aren't you?_

 _I'm in math class. Of course I am. What's up?_

 _How much longer are we staying here?_

 _Until you give me the medallion. And we still have to find the third piece._ Chandra rolled her eyes.

 _No. The group collectively has to have all three pieces. I don't have to give you the medallion._

 _Why'd you ask if you already knew the answer?_ Chandra hissed softly.

 _Just making sure._ Jace's voice sounded almost smug in her head.

Chandra sighed. _You're dead._

 _Then I'll be sure to avoid you._

 _That won't stop me._

 _Really?_

 _You betcha._ Chandra glanced at the clock impatiently.

 _Oh yeah. Watch out for trip wires around the school._

 _Why?_ Chandra sighed. _I swear. Michael and David just don't know when to quit._

 _Ral has declared war on Michael and David._

 _Great._ Chandra rolled her eyes hard enough that her head hurt. _Oh. By the way, when this is all over you're not allowed in my head._

 _Why not?_

 _I said so._

 _Whatever._

She smirked and yawned. She looked at the clock again.


	6. Chapter 6

"You're really bad at this game," Jace muttered as he reset the chess board.

Alice pressed her lips together and remained silent.

Jace smirked.

The two of them were in the library, playing chess, instead of in their classes like they should be. They'd played three games thus far and Jace had won every one.

"You two do realize that you should be in class?" The librarian prompted.

Alice shrugged and Jace ignored her.

The librarian shook her head in amusement.

"Black or white?" Jace asked once every piece was perfectly centered in their respective squares.

"I didn't know you were OCD," Alice commented.

Jace glanced at her, "Shut up."

Alice smirked and sighed, "Black."

"Alright."

"And no ability," Alice snapped.

"Alright."

"Would all students please report to the auditorium."

Jace chose to ignore the announcement in favor of continuing the chess game. Alice watched his first move carefully and took her time coming up with a strategy.

"Hurry up," Jace rolled his eyes, "God. You take eons just to move a single piece."

"Shut up. I'm going to beat you this time!" Alice insisted.

Jace won.

"HOW?!" Alice cried, "You barely put any thought into how you moved your pieces? _HOW_ did you win?!"

"You just suck at this game," Jace shrugged.

"You two should be in the auditorium," Lilianna said sweetly as she walked into the library.

Jace glanced up at her, "Why?"

"We're discussing next week's event," Lilianna explained calmly.

"What event?" Alice asked.

"Sorry. Can't tell," Lilianna shook her head.

Jace scowled, "Fine."

"I will beat you," Alice promised.

Jace glanced at her doubtfully, "Okay." Lilianna watched the two of them leave and then looked at the chess board. She shook her head in amusement, "Wow. It looks like a trip to an easy world is what everyone needed." It was rough at first but now everyone's getting along much better. She returned to the auditorium.

"So. Next week the teachers at a handful of the public schools are going to a board meeting. Our school has made it a tradition to pick up the slack instead of making the schools bring in substitute teachers you guys," the principal motioned to the students, "will be getting a lesson in responsibility and how to manage children ranging in ages three to thirteen."

Jace's eyes widened in horror, "W-What?"

"C'mon Cat Ears. It can't be that bad."

Jace glared at Ral angrily, "It will be that bad. Children are gross, loud, inconsiderate-"

"Adorable," Ral said.

Tempest growled softly.

Jace sighed, "Whatever." He turned back to the principal.

"You will have a partner and that partner will be your roommate."

Jace groaned. _Great. I get to look after KIDS with...Ral. I have to work with Ral? I'd rather work with Kyle. Or Rick. Or...nevermind. I don't envy the kids that will have Michael and David._ Jace sighed, "This sucks"

"What about it sucks? We get to look after kids next week," Ral, of course, was irrationally excited.

Jace sighed and glanced at the door to the boy's dorm room. He could see the rope that held the bucket of ice water on the other side of the door steady. Should the door open the bucket would tip and dump its contents everywhere. He sighed and walked around the building to the window. The window led into the kitchen so he wouldn't have to go out of his way to grab a snack on his way up to his room.

Tempest followed him, though her head cocked to the side curiously. The fact that the school didn't seem to care that he had a tiger following him around confused him.

"JACE!"

Jace turned to the sound of his name. Jenny was tearing across the courtyard at him. She skidded to a stop and grinned at him, "Can I go talk to Elspeth? I haven't gotten the chance to actually talk to her. I _want_ to!"

"Why?" Jace asked slowly.

"Because she's _SO_ cool!" Jenny squealed.

"Why?" Jace repeated in the same tone.

Tempest sat down and watched Jenny skip a circle around Jace. Jace lowered his gaze to the ground so she didn't make him dizzy.

"Because!" Jenny insisted.

"Fine. If you'll leave me alone I'll take you to see Elspeth," Jace sighed.

"Alright!" Jenny nodded enthusiastically. She followed him down the street, barely managing not to step on his heels. He rolled his eyes.

Gideon looked up as the door opened. Jace walked in followed by a girl from his school. Her name was Jenny if Gideon remembered it correctly.

"Is Elspeth here?" Jace muttered unhappily.

"She's upstairs," Nissa said.

Kaechia looked him over, "You look...miserable."

Jace looked at Jenny, "She's upstairs." He gave Kaechia a flat look before leaving.

Jenny stared after him, "Okay! Thanks!" She skipped up the stairs, "ELSPETH!"

Elspeth glanced at her in surprise, "Hello Jenny."

"Hi!" Jenny skipped into the room and grinned happily at her, "Not to be rude or anything but shouldn't you be dead?"

"I am dead," Elspeth said evenly.

Jenny stared at her for a moment, "Okay. Cool. You know. Life's been really really boring since Caidence and I got back. No body believed me either. It kinda sucked. Well. Caidence didn't really give me the opportunity to tell anyone."

"That's probably for the better though," Elspeth pointed out.

"Yeah," Jenny shrugged, "I moved here hoping it'd be more interesting since it's a haven and all. Then just a few months before you guys got here the rift opened up and everybody was totally calm about it. I found it funny because normally if a rift opened the humans of this time would freak out but these guys just calmly did as they were bid whether that was grabbing a weapon and blowing something sky high or not depended on the person. Our PE teacher keeps a gun in his closet in case the rift opens up again!"

Elspeth raised an eyebrow, "Alright."

"Hey Chandra."

"Hm?"

Jace held out his hand, "Can I have the ring? It's important."

"Why?" Chandra asked.

"Because it's important," Jace snapped.

Chandra's eyes narrowed, "No."

Jace gritted his teeth, "Why not?"

"You won't tell me why you want it," Chandra shrugged.

"Why are you so damn difficult to please?!" Jace snarled.

"Why are you so stubborn?" Chandra asked.

"He has spent plenty of time with you," Lilianna pointed out dryly.

Chandra and Jace fixed her with near matching glares.

Lilianna smirked.

"Look. I came across a book that said that if they were brought together then the lock that kept the information stored within them would be opened and we'd be able to see the Treasure's intended purpose."

"You're the one that's always going on about how we shouldn't just walk into something unless we know whether or not it's dangerous."

"It's an _angel's_ treasure," Jace snapped.

"That does not mean it can't kill us." Chandra crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm not giving it to you."

"Since when did you listen to what _I_ said anyway?!" Jace rolled his eyes, "You're so arbitrary."

"Until you can prove to me 100% that it won't kill either of us you aren't getting the ring," Chandra shrugged.

"Seriously?" Jace hissed through gritted teeth.

"Don't try the pity me card Jace," Chandra said evenly, "It might work with everybody else but I can assure you that I'm more than used to it."

Jace shot her a challenging look, "I have to look after kids with Ral next week."

"I have to work with kids with Lili next week. Your point?" Chandra put her hands on her hips.

Jace's eyes narrowed. _So it works on_ _ **Michael and David**_ _but not on her. That's not fair._ "Fine. Whatever. You're heartless."

"Good to know," Chandra snickered.

Jace left and started wandering back to the library. He growled in frustration, "Not fair."

"What's not fair?" Kyle asked curiously.

"Chandra," Jace shrugged.

"Oh," Kyle shook his head sympathetically, "Well. Good luck if that helps."

Jace glanced at him and shrugged. He sighed, "I'll just find another way."

"Alright," Kyle nodded. He glanced around as Rick wrapped his arm around his shorter friends shoulder. "Hey Jace," Rick smiled at him, "I heard you were playing chess with Alice."

Jace nodded.

"How'd it go?" Kyle asked.

Jace shrugged, "She didn't win so...I guess that depends on your perspective."

"Alice didn't win _chess_?" Rick asked in surprise.

"She usually wins?" Jace asked.

"Well. Not against Tessa but everybody else isn't able to beat her," Rick explained.

"Oh," Jace shrugged. He glanced at the two of them, "Why are you guys in the school building so late?"

"They serve dinner," Kyle said longingly.

"Not for another three hours," Jace said dryly. _Should've known it had something to do with food._ He looked at Rick.

"They two of us are helping out the student council," Rick said after a moment of silence.

"So...this has nothing at all to do with Isabelle?" Kyle asked, "Being part of the student council as she is."

"Well. Helping Izzy out is always fun but we're helping the student council," Rick said.

"With what? They seem to have it all under control to me," Jace said.

"We're helping them make posters to the upcoming Spring Festival," Rick said.

Jace's eyes narrowed, "We're barely out of winter break and they're already planning some festival in the spring?"

Kyle nodded, "Festivals take a long time to prep and plan for so they start the basic stages of planning and promotion months in advance."

"You sure do know a lot about festivals," Jace muttered.

"It's cause they often entail food. And lots of it," Rick snickered as his friend punched him in the arm.

"Great," Jace rolled his eyes.

"There's all sorts of stuff at festivals," Kyle shot Rick a hard look. "It's not just food. There's games and events and competitions and all sorts of other stuff."

"Oh," Jace muttered unenthusiastically.

"You wanna help us out?"

Jace shook his head, "No."

"Why not?" Kyle asked. _It sounds like he actually has a reason this time._

Jace fixed him with a cold glare, "I have other things to do."

Tempest looked sympathetically at Rick and Kyle before following Jace out of the school building.

"Ral. What are you doing?" Jace closed the door to the room the two shared and stared at him.

"I am trying," Ral's speech was broken and oddly spaced out as he tried taking apart the computer screen, "to figure out our mana problems."

"Just how many computers do you have?" Jace snapped.

Ral shrugged, "A lot. C'mon Cat Ears. I need to have materials you know."

"You...took apart your Xbox?" Jace asked in surprise.

Ral nodded, "Yes. As I said. I'm trying to figure out how to fix our mana problems."

"With pieces of two computers and an Xbox?" Jace asked doubtfully.

Ral nodded, "Yes."

"And...how is that going to work?"

"Well. I'm just coming up with the general structure. Then I'm going to take it t o Echo and we'll go from there."

Jace rolled his eyes, "Fine." _Prove 100% that it isn't dangerous? That's harder than it sounds. However if I could scan both items then it would be much easier. But I need mana in order to do that._ He glanced at Ral, "Ral."

"Hm?"

"Let me help."

"Alright Cat Ears," Ral nodded. He instantly began describing to Jace the basic structure of what he was creating. Apparently Ral had learned how to channel small amounts of electrical energy into the plating that would line a computer to make it malleable. How exactly that worked on any material was over Jace's head.


	7. Chapter 7

Chandra sighed and watched Jenny talk like she always did. No one ever paid attention to her but she continued to talk. Jace had decided that the classes weren't worth the effort and was in the library. However the PE teacher had asked him repeatedly to come to class. Naturally student council would intervene at this point. Claire had told Chandra to do it and she had yet to do so. In essence she was procrastinating by sitting here listening to Jenny yammer.

"Hey Chandra," Rick and Kyle sat on either side of her and each of them held up poorly designed posters for the Spring Festival.

Chandra blinked in an attempt to keep herself from laughing. It was more than obvious that neither of them had any form of artistic skill to speak of. They also obviously had no clue how to use basic layout designs to make something appealing to look at. She sighed, "Guys."

"Yeah?" Kyle asked.

"Talk to the layout and digital design teacher and _then_ start drawing your posters," she suggested dryly.

The two nodded enthusiastically and disappeared.

She rolled her eyes. Rick was helping because Isabelle and Kyle was helping because the student council provided snacks after school and the cafeteria served dinner, meaning he had to put no effort into his food whatsoever.

"Chandra. Don't you have something to be doing?" Claire chided.

Chandra looked up at her, "I do?"

The student council's president narrowed her eyes, "Yes. You have to talk to Jace on behalf of the PE teacher."

"What do you want me to do? Drag him to class kicking and screaming?"

"No I-"

"That's what you're gonna get. And that's if I don't have to chase him all over the city for two days," Chandra interrupted.

"Has anyone seen Ral. He supposedly declared war on us but-"

"He's in his room. Has been for a few days," Lilianna said simply.

"Oh," Michael sighed sadly.

"Man. That was fun," David whined.

"Jesus. Give him another few days," Chandra rolled her eyes. _You guys really don't bother thinking for yourselves unless the situation demands it._ The twins wandered off, looking for Jace. No doubt Kurai had warned Jace and so he was now nowhere to be found. "There. Michael and David are looking for him," Chandra waved in the direction where the two had disappeared, "I'm sure they'll drag him into PE class."

Lilianna snickered, "That's the best your going to get. President."

Claire hissed and stalked away angrily.

Isabelle sighed, "You know guys. She might not be as demanding if you actually did as she asked every once in a while."

"Having been student council president, you would know wouldn't you?" Chandra asked. She shrugged, "I'm just not in the mood and I'm sure Jace would appreciate if I didn't."

"PE is kind of important," Isabelle pointed out.

"Not for that one," Lilianna shook her head. She looked at Chandra, "Though you could be nicer to him. He did ask nicely for the ring and he did give you a reason."

Chandra looked at her, "And?"

"Isn't that what you've wanted too though?" Lilianna asked.

"So?" Chandra shook her head. _I could steal it from him. But that would probably devolve into a cycle. It could be fun though._

"Don't," Lilianna's eyes turned to shards of steel.

Chandra smirked, "Don't what?" She got to her feet and wandered off.

"Pyro!" Lilianna hissed after her.

Chandra skipped down the hall towards the library.

"You seem to be in a good mood," Tina commented on her way to the cafeteria.

Chandra shrugged, "Just off to do something."

 _What are you doing?_

 _You weren't listening?_

 _No. I was avoiding Michael and David. I was a little preoccupied to be listening._

 _Then you don't need to know._

 _Damn you._

 _You too._ Chandra opened the door to the library. Michael and David were looking around looking confused, "What's up?"

"I don't think he's here?" Michael sounded uncertain of that fact. If one wanted to find Jace the first place to check would be the library.

Chandra shrugged, "That sucks."

Michael sighed, "C'mon David."

"Alright." David followed him out of the library, "Hey. Maybe Ral knows where he is!"

"Good idea." The two disappeared.

Chandra rolled her eyes and looked around, "You can come out now."

A cabinet high in the wall of a side room opened and Jace dropped to the ground. He walked up to her, "What?"

"What?" Chandra shrugged, "Two things. The PE teacher wants you in class and..." She slid past him, easily pulling the medallion out of his jacket pocket.

"HEY!" Jace reached for it.

Chandra smirked and pulled it away from him, "Tag. Your it." She took off.

"Get back here!" Jace tore after her. He raced after her.

Michael and David both leaped out of their way as they tore past.

Chandra laughed and left the school building. Jace stopped in front of the door and glared after her, "Fine." He used telekinesis to pulled the ring out of her pocket. He smirked as he heard her curse. He pulled on it hard so it raced quickly towards him. He opened the door and caught the ring, "Hah."

"Damn you," Chandra hissed. She waved the medallion in front of his face, "You don't have both though."

"Neither do you," Jace reached out to take the medallion away from her but she pulled it away again. He snarled, "You're cruel."

"Good to know."

"You said I couldn't-"

"That's because you can't," Chandra shook her head, "I can't either. But why argue over who's going to keep track of the pieces."

"Then give me the medallion!"

"No. Give me the ring," Chandra said.

"I thought you just said there was no point in arguing about it," Jace snapped.

"And?" Chandra stuck her tongue out at him and walked away. She heard Jace growl at her and shook her head in amusement. _Of course it's not that easy. Oh well._ She stopped by the hotel. "Echo!"

"I'm busy right now!"

"Oh. Sorry," Chandra rolled her eyes. The medallion was in her pocket at the moment. She found it amusing how neither of them dared to put the artifacts they carried on. That usually led to interesting consequences and with pieces of an artifact as powerful as they believed this one to be most likely dangerous consequences. _It does kind of surprise me how easy it was to find these things. I mean if Bolas really wanted them he definitely would've found them by now if he was...really...looking for them. "_ Damn," she darted out of the hotel.

"Oh. So I finally pause and come down all those stairs and she runs off," Echo rolled her eyes, "I swear."

 _Why the hell am I just realizing this now?!_ Chandra skidded to a stop in front of the house the planeswalkers shared. _Wait...I don't think they know that we've found two of the pieces already. Oh well._ She opened the door and walked in.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Gideon asked.

Chandra shrugged, "Where's Elspeth?"

Gideon rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Upstairs."

Chandra hurried up the stairs. She found Elspeth redecorating a balcony with Nissa. She cocked her head to the side, "I think it looks pretty enough."

"Chandra," Nissa welcomed her warmly.

"You should be in school," Elspeth said evenly.

"I know. I know," Chandra rolled her eyes, "I just wanted to share something. Two things, one we've found two pieces of the treasure. Two. It was easy. Too easy. If Bolas was really looking for them, with as much of a headstart as he had he would've had at least those two pieces long before we even got here."

Elspeth raised an eyebrow, "So you think he knew Jace could hear him and played it."

Chandra nodded.

Elspeth nodded, "It's been taken into account. Even so the artifact could be helpful to us in the future so the search for it will continue."

Chandra nodded, "Over the summer we'll look for the third piece."

Elspeth nodded, "Out of curiosity which two."

"The medallion and the ring," Chandra held up the medallion.

"Who has the ring?"

"Jace," Chandra said.

Elspeth nodded, "Alright. Good."

Chandra cocked her head to the side.

Elspeth's gaze suddenly became hard, "Back to school."

Chandra pouted but walked back to the school building. _Not fair._

 _What's not fair?_

 _Elspeth._

She heard Jace snicker and growled. _Jerk._

 _And you aren't?_

 _Shut up._

 _No. Not until you start being nice._

 _Being nice is not the same thing as spoiling you Jace. And I'm mean. Sorry._ She rolled her eyes.

 _You play favorites._

 _No. People annoy me to different degrees._ She sighed, "I swear. Once this is over I will get everyone back for all the stress they've caused me."

 _That's not cool. They won't even remember what you're getting them back for._

 _I will and that's good enough for me._

 _You are so spoiled._

 _You're one to talk._

 _What? I am **not** spoiled._

Chandra shook her head. _Yes you are._ She smirked as she heard Jace hiss at her. _You better be in PE tomorrow._

 _Why?_

 _Elspeth will get a call tomorrow if you aren't there._

 _You're just making that up._

 _Try me._

 _Damn you. Fine._

Chandra snickered. She wasn't lying but she did wait until the last minute to tell him that for this exact reason.

 _You are cruel. Why'd you wait till now?_

 _You know why._ Chandra walked back into the school building and walked into her history class, "Sorry I'm late."

"Where were you?" Whisper asked curiously.

"Dealing with things here and there," Chandra shrugged.

"Oh."


	8. Chapter 8

"What the hell?" Ral stared at him in surprise, "Cat Ears. That is a seriously large lollipop!"

Jace shrugged, "Onyx got it for me."

"This had nothing at all to do with you complaining to him did it?" Ral asked with a roll of his eyes.

"I know this is weird for me to ask but have you slept at all?" Jace asked curiously.

"Well," Ral's cheeks turned red, "Maybe a little."

Jace burst out laughing, "Really?!"

"What makes you ask?" Ral asked guiltily.

"You're snappy, unhappy looking and just overall grumpy," Jace shrugged. He sat down on his bed. Tempest curled up on his pillow.

"That bad huh?" Ral asked. He sighed, "I'm almost done. Can you get me a screwdriver?"

"How big?" Jace asked. He got to his feet.

"This big," Ral showed him the screw.

Jace nodded and disappeared out the door.

Ral yawned and turned back to the pile of junk that littered his own bed. Pieces of different computers and two video gaming systems were scattered around him with no semblance of organization. He sighed, "I'm gonna have to clean up when I'm done with this! Man!"

"Man?" Jace asked as he opened the door.

"Just lamenting the fact that I'm gonna have to clean this up," Ral shrugged. He took the screwdriver Jace held out to him, "Thank you."

Jace nodded and sat down at his desk, "I'm running out of reading material."

"You could always play a game," Ral suggested.

"No," Jace snapped.

"C'mon Cat Ears. Not every game requires that you jump," Ral snickered.

"Every game you have suggested does," Jace muttered.

"Fine. Fine," Ral sighed, "I'll finish this up and then I'm sleeping till dooms day."

"Fine," Jace rolled his eyes. He stared at the books around him. His bookshelf was still empty and he still had the trampoline that Michael and David had gotten for him in it's box in the closet. He hadn't bothered opening it and it wasn't like it would fit in the room at all. _We have to look after kids next week._ "I don't want to."

"Don't want to what?"

"Look after the kids while the teachers are off doing whatever."

"Principal said they were having a board meeting so it's not like they get a day off," Ral said.

Jace shrugged, "So?" He knew what a board meeting was. He knew it wasn't fun and games at all but he could still easily imagine the teachers living it up and laughing at the teenagers that failed to properly look after children. His eyes narrowed. _They'll probably watch the security camera footage afterwards and just laugh their asses off at the poor highschoolers that couldn't keep their kids in line. I hope I don't have to look after little little kids. Thirteen year olds would be alright I guess. Well I guess that would depend on how much of a mouth the kids had._ He sighed and rested his head on the desk, "I don't want to."

Ral yawned and stretched. He sat up quickly and excitedly, "CAT EARS!"

"No."

"Do you know what day it is?!" Ral grinned and leaped out of his bed. He subsequently tripped over a mess that hadn't been there the day before. "Cat Ears," he muttered mutinously, "You put that there didn't you?"

"No."

"You lie," Ral sighed and got to his feet, "C'mon! Let's go see what class we'll be looking after today!"

"No."

"Cat Ears!" Ral walked over to his bed and started to shake him insistently, "C'mon. Get up! I want to go see what we'll be doing today!"

Jace smirked and telekinetically pulled on a latch in the ceiling. A box he'd colored to look exactly like the ceiling opened and Ral was showered with paper clips.

"Cat Ears!" Ral cried indignantly.

"No."

"You are so mean to me! Get up!" Ral continued shaking him. Tempest leaped over Jace and knocked Ral to the ground. The cat swatted him playfully in the side of the head.

"Ah!" Ral tried to pout was laughing too hard, "Cat Ears! You are so mean!"

"You're annoying," Jace got up and dragged Ral over to the window. He dumped him out of it and watched him fall. He'd set up the trampoline Michael and David had given him under the window. Now he watched in amusement as Ral was caught in a never ending bounce. He turned away from the window, "I'm staying here."

"NO!" Ral cried. He created a magnetic field around himself and latched onto the wall of the building. He climbed back into the room and returned to trying to get Jace up, "Get up!"

Kaious tried desperately hard not to laugh.

"You were supposed to keep falling," Jace growled.

"We have to go see which class we'll be looking after today!" Ral whined.

"Shut up!" Jace rolled over so his back was facing Ral.

"Cat Ears!"

"No!"

"Cat Ears!" Ral sighed. He looked at Tempest, "Help me out here."

Tempest flicked Jace in the face with her tail.

Jace hid his face under the blanket, "Leave me alone!" Tempest started gently chewing on his head. Ral shook him. "Stop it!" Jace snapped. He sat up quickly and threw a stuffed animal at Ral, "Fine. Stop. Jeez." He got up and stormed out of the room. Tempest made a pleased sound in her throat before followed.

"Wait up!" Kaious flew after him.

Ral grinned and skipped out of the room and down the stairs. On their way out the door of the dorm building they were handed a piece of paper. The paper had a school's name written on it, a door number and the age and grade of the kids of the class. Jace didn't look at the paper. He didn't want to know. He wanted to be in the library or in his room. It was cold outside.

"Cat Ears," Ral sighed. He handed Jace his coat, "You forgot something."

Jace rolled his eyes and put the coat on.

"We get to look after little kids!" Ral squealed excitedly.

"WHAT?!" Jace stared at him.

Ral nodded.

Jace sank to the ground, "I'm staying here."

"C'mon Jace," Erin leaned down above him. Whisper stood next to him, "We'll be next door. It'll be fun."

"Little kids have lots of energy," Whisper said.

"You're undermining our point," Ral said quietly.

Jace gave them all a sour look, "I'm staying here."

"Alright," Erin sighed. He led Whisper away.

"We're gonna be art teachers!" Jenny giggled excitedly.

"Jenny. You can't make a mess of the art room," Tina said sternly.

"I won't!" Jenny insisted. She noticed Jace pouting up against the wall and skipped up to him, "Hi guys."

"Go away," Jace muttered.

Tempest watched Jenny pout for two seconds silently.

"C'mon Jace. It's not Jenny's fault you have to look after little kids," Kaious said, "How old are they anyway?"

"The youngest possible," Jace muttered unhappily.

Kaious sat on Jace's head, "It could be fun."

Tempest flicked him in the face with her tail.

Jace swatted it away, "Leave me alone."

"The youngest kids?" Jenny asked curiously. She looked at Tina, "We could trade-"

"No," the assistance principal said evenly, "No trading classes."

Jenny pouted, "But looking after little kids would be fun. We could play in the snow and everything!"

"You were the one that dragged me out here at three in the morning in the miserable cold to find out if you could be an art teacher for a day!" Tina snapped.

"Art's fun," Jenny shrugged.

Tina looked ready to explode.

"I know!" Ral hurried back into the dorm room.

Jace stared at the door through narrowed eyes. _I don't want to._ He continued to sit there, ignoring the assistant principal urging him to get up. Tempest started to pace around him impatiently. He looked at the tiger, "If you want to go play with little kids then go with Ral."

"Jace," Kaious said, "Are you _sure_ you don't want to play with kids?"

Jace up at the dragon flatly, "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Just asking," Kaious' eyes glittered knowingly.

"What?" Jace snapped.

"Just that your familiar knows you better than you do," Kaious shrugged.

Jace continued to pout.

"We'll walk with you," Jenny offered.

Jace remained silent.

"C'mon!" Jenny grabbed his arm and pulled on it. Jace shifted all of his weight so it was close to impossible for her to move him. She grunted and dropped his arm, "Jeez."

"Jenny, just let Ral do it."

"No. We're walking with Jace."

"We're going to be late," Tina rolled her eyes.

"I want to walk with Jace," Jenny crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly.

"Fine."

Ral came back out with a cart that was usually used to transport shipments of heavy things from the trucks to the school building, "There we go."

"No." Jace said evenly.

Onyx followed Ral out, "What am I doing?"

"No," Jace said again.

"Picking Cat Ears up and sticking him on the cart," Ral sounded proud of himself.

Onyx looked from Jace to Ral and back again. He shook his head, "The things I do for you guys." He picked Jace up and set him down on the cart. Ral handed Jace the single book he hadn't finished reading yet.

"I'll get you ice cream or something," Onyx promised.

Jace snatched the book out of Ral's hand angrily and sat cross legged on the cart. Tempest jumped up and sat down beside him. Her tail flicked with excited anticipation. Kaious sat down on Jace's head. Jenny skipped along beside Ral, who pushed the cart towards the school. Tina rolled her eyes and followed. _I don't want to look after little kids. I don't want to look after kids at all. This is a disaster._

"Why'd you give those two the other preschool class?" The assistant principal asked.

"Because," the principal smirked knowingly, "It'll be a...learning experience at the very least. Who knows. They might like looking after kids."

She shook her head, "You're trying to get Jace to accept that fact that the only person's he's fooling anymore is himself."

"Maybe," the principal shrugged, "And maybe I'm just doing a favor for an old friend."

"Honestly Eldric. Don't you think it's time you just accepted the fact that you died a long time ago?" the assistant principal asked.

"Maybe. Even so. For as long as Elspeth and Kaious need me I will remain," Eldric said evenly.


	9. Chapter 9

Chandra shook her head as she watched Ral push the cart away. She looked at Lilianna, "Fourth graders."

"I was hoping for an older group," Lilianna muttered.

"At least we aren't in Jace's position," Chandra definitely didn't envy him, "Do you know how many fourth grade classes there are?"

Lilianna shook her head, "Our school is that way though." She pointed down the large street that ran in front of the school's gates.

Chandra nodded, "Alright."

"I'll lead so we don't get lost," Lilianna said harshly.

"Yeah, yeah," Chandra rolled her eyes, "I know I have a terrible sense of direction."

"Hi!" the class welcomed them happily.

"Hello," Lilianna waved.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "I didn't know you had it in you to be nice."

"Silence," Lilianna hissed.

"Hey guys." Chandra sighed. _The students got here before us. Oh well. It's not like we're late. There's still two minutes until the technical beginning of class._ "Do you know if there's anybody that isn't here yet?"

One kid in the front looked around, "I don't think so..."

"Jessie's not here yet," another kid said.

"Alright. We'll wait for Jessie then," Chandra glanced at Lilianna.

"You guys weren't here last year. Are you knew to the private school?"

Lilianna nodded, "Yep."

"We really need to learn names," Chandra muttered.

Lilianna nodded slightly.

Chandra counted the kids sitting in front of them, adding Jessie to the list, "There's seventeen kids in here."

"Oh. Yeah," Lilianna rolled her eyes, "Go sit at the desk."

"You sit at the desk."

"No. I'm going to stand here. You're not-"

"Am I late?" Jessie stood in the doorway.

Chandra glanced at the clock, "No."

He sighed in relief. He sat in his seat.

"That's all seventeen," Chandra said.

"At least go find out what the hell we're supposed to be doing today," Lilianna hissed.

"Fine," Chandra rolled her eyes. _I swear this is just so everyone can laugh at us. I'll bet this is a nightmare for Melody._ She found a single piece of paper on the desk. She handed the paper to Lilianna after reading it. _"Keep the kids outta trouble and have fun." SERIOUSLY?! Great._ "Alright, so...what did you guys do last year?"

"We painted," The kid in the front row said.

"Who were your...guardians last year?" Lilianna asked.

"I think the girl's name was Melody."

"The boy was...Onyx? I think that was his name."

Chandra and Lilianna exchanged glances.

"Alright. So I'm Lilianna and this is Chandra."

Chandra waved, "And you guys are going to write down on a piece of paper your names and what you like to do in your spare time."

The students nodded.

Everyone in the now quiet room jumped as screaming echoed down the hallway. Chandra was at the doorway in an instant. She close lined Michael and caught David by his collar. She glared at the two of them, "What did you two do?"

The second graders they were supposed to be looking after came tearing down the hallway with a whole bunch of paper fans.

"We're having fun," Michael said happily.

"Take it outside," Lilianna hissed.

"Okay," David nodded.

"C'mon kids! We're going outside!"

"Wait. They have to say hi first," David said.

"Oh yeah. Say hi to our friends," Michael motioned to Chandra and Lilianna.

"They look more like your parents," one kid muttered.

Michael glanced at the kid and shrugged, "Well...only sometimes."

"Hi!" the class said in almost unison.

"Hi," Lilianna waved.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "Hi." Her gaze hardened, "Now take it outside!"

Michael and David nodded quickly and ushered the kids back down the hall.

Chandra returned to the classroom.

"Wow. You're fast," Jessie said. The entire class was staring at the two of them in awe.

Chandra shrugged sheepishly, "Yeah. It does kind of come with the territory."

"Some of us are more inclined to use force over words," Lilianna said with a sharp glance at Chandra.

"At least I can tell when to let someone else do the talking," Chandra snapped.

The fourth graders laughed.

"You guys done yet?" Chandra asked.

The kids nodded.

"Alright," Lilianna walked around collecting the papers. She handed them to Chandra.

Chandra folded the papers so the kid's names were hidden, "Hand them back out randomly."

Lilianna did as she was bid reluctantly.

"Now. Based off of what it says the person does in their spare time, find the owner of the paper," Chandra smirked.

"You're literally letting them entertain themselves," Lilianna said sourly.

"Well. Their ten. They should be able to entertain themselves," Chandra shrugged.

"They're well behaved for being ten," Lilianna muttered.

"It probably has something to do with the teacher."

"And the fact that you close lined someone right in front of them," Lilianna added disapprovingly.

Chandra glanced at her, "I'm sorry. Michael and David are trouble makers."

"That doesn't mean you just-"

"Yes it does. If there's screaming and they're involved then it does," Chandra said simply.

"Sit back down once you've found the owner of the paper you were given," Lilianna ordered.

The kids nodded.

"You're so quick to judge."

"And yet I'm also quick to change my opinions," Chandra pointed out, "You're living evidence of that. Michael and David are trouble makers. They're reliable but they're always up to no good."

Lilianna rolled her eyes and remained silent.

Chandra knew that meant she'd won the argument. She smirked. Once all the kids were seated Lilianna sighed, "Alright. Let's play a guessing game. You guys have to guess something about us and..."

"You get a piece of candy if you guess right."

Instantly every hand in the room shot up. The kids' eyes glowed brightly.

"We don't have any candy," Lilianna hissed.

"Their teacher does," Chandra said. She walked over to the desk and pulled the opened bag of candy out of the bottom drawer.

"I'm going to assume you could smell it then?" Lilianna asked coldly.

Chandra nodded, "Oh yeah." She set the bag down on the desk, "Alissa."

"You guys a sophomores in high school."

"No," Lilianna shook her head. Alissa's hand was back up instantly.

"James," Chandra said.

"You guys are freshmen," he said.

"Yes," Lilianna nodded.

Chandra tossed a Jolly Rancher at him, "Callypso."

"You guys are sisters."

Chandra looked at Lilianna.

Lilianna nodded, "Yes."

Chandra tossed a piece of candy at her, "Brittany."

"Lilianna's older."

"No," Lilianna shook her head.

The entire class stared at them in shock for a moment.

"What?" Chandra asked. She sighed, "Demion."

"Lilianna was born in November."

Lilianna shook her head, "No."

"Man."

"Avery," Chandra said.

"You guys are twins!"

"No," Lilianna shook her head.

"Sariah," Chandra said.

"You guys are not related by blood."

Lilianna nodded, "Yes."

Chandra tossed her a piece of candy, "Christina."

"You're older," she pointed to Chandra.

"Unfortunately," Lilianna nodded.

Chandra snickered and tossed the girl a piece of candy. "Jessie."

"You guys are part of the student government council thing."

Lilianna nodded, "Yes."

"Out of curiosity how could you tell?" Chandra tossed him a piece of candy.

"The way you dealt with the two boys in the hall," Jessie said.

"Yeah. It seemed like you were in charge," Alissa nodded.

"Alright," Chandra nodded. "Lilly."

"Chandra was born in October," Lilly guessed.

Lilianna shook her head, "No."

"Oh."

"Eve."

"You suck at math," Eve said bluntly to Chandra.

Lilianna nodded quickly, "Yes she does."

"So what?" Chandra tossed her a piece of candy, "How can you tell?"

"Your aim sucks."

Chandra nodded, "Alright." _I'm not sure how that has anything to do with math but okay._ "Oliver."

"Lilianna was born in October."

Lilianna nodded.

"It was on her face wasn't it?" Chandra asked as she tossed him a piece of candy.

Oliver nodded and giggled.

"Ignis," Chandra said.

"You have brothers," she said.

"How can you tell?" Lilianna nodded, "But yes. We do."

"You just seem like big sisters," Ignis shrugged.

"Big sisters have an aura that makes them more approachable," Lilly said.

Eve nodded, "Yeah!"

Chandra nodded, "Alright. Precious."

"You guys share a room."

Lilianna nodded, "Yes. We do."

"How can you tell?" Chandra tossed him a piece of candy.

"You don't get along well," Precious said.

Chandra couldn't help but laugh, "Nope. Melissa."

"You have two younger brothers."

Lilianna shook her head, "No."

"Vivian," Chandra said.

"You're just killing time because you can't think of anything better for us to do than guess things about you."

Chandra chuckled guiltily.

Lilianna nodded after a moment, "Yes."

"How can you tell?" Chandra tossed him a piece of candy.

"You keep glancing at the clock," he pointed at Chandra.

Lilianna glanced at her.

Chandra shrugged, "Alright. Namine."

"You like violent video games," Namine pointed to Lilianna.

Lilianna was silent for many moments, "Some. Yes."

Chandra burst out laughing. She tossed Namine a piece of candy, "How could you tell?"

"It just seems like it," Namine shrugged.

"Alright. If you have candy put your hands down. Until everyone has candy those with candy may not guess anymore," Chandra said. Those that had candy put their hands down. At the end of the day Lilianna forced Chandra to write an apology note to the teacher because they ended up draining that bag of candy and half of another.

"That was fun," Chandra yawned as they were walking back to the school.

"It was," Lilianna nodded, "Very much so."

"So. Do you like kids?" Chandra turned to face Lilianna, walking backwards.

Lilianna shrugged, "Somewhat. Yes."

"Want to have some of your own?"

"Maybe," Lilianna looked over her shoulder at the school, "Probably not."

Chandra snickered, "Alright."


	10. Chapter 10

"We're here!" Ral grinned as he stopped in front of the school. Jace made a noise of acknowledgment in his throat. Ral pushed the cart through the doors of the school and through the hallway.

"HI!" the kids greeted them excitedly.

"What are we doing today?"

"I wonder if it'll be as fun as my big brother said it would be."

"My sister said this day would be loads of fun."

"My mom told me not to go outside."

"Hi guys," Ral grinned, "I'm Ral Zarek and I, along with Cat Ears, will be looking after you today."

"Cat Ears?"

"Is that really his name?"

"No," Jace said sourly, "My real name is Jace."

"Oh."

"You're the kitty boy that lives next door!" a little girl said excitedly.

Jace stared at her, "I am?"

She nodded.

"So what does your normal schedule look like?" Ral asked curiously.

"Well. We have music in the middle of when class starts and lunch. After lunch we have PE and then in the middle of PE and the end of the day we have art," one kid pointed to the schedule that was written down on the white board.

Ral nodded, "Alright."

Jace sighed and got off the cart. Kaious and Tempest followed him over to the teacher's desk. The desk was spotless. A single piece of paper had a note scrawled on it in a weird combination of script and print. He read it and then glanced at the kids that were crowding around Ral expectantly. _"Keep the kids from burning down the building and have fun."_ Jace's eyes narrowed and set the paper back down, "Ral. I'm leaving."

"No Cat Ears!"

"Jace!"

Jace glanced over his shoulder in time to be stampeded by around twenty two three foot tall children. He stumbled back and fell.

"Stay!"

"Is that a real dragon?!"

"I didn't know you could have a pet tiger!"

"We can have fun!"

"Get OFF!" Jace rose his voice above the chatter.

They got off him sullenly. He sighed and sat up, "Fine. I'll stay. But if you have anything at all that's not one hundred percent urgent you're going to talk to Ral."

The kids brightened and nodded, "Okay!" The answer was echoed twenty one times.

"By urgent I mean dying," Jace said.

Ral laughed and helped Jace to his feet, "C'mon Cat Ears. Don't be mean."

"I'm not," Jace muttered. He sat in the back of the classroom.

"Alright guys," Ral grinned, "How about you introduce yourselves."

"I'm Kelly!"

"I'm Roxin!"

Jace toned them out. He already knew their names. He opened his book and read.

"Cat Ears."

"Hm?"

"They're going to music now."

"Cool."

"Come listen to us!"

Jace rolled his eyes, "Fine." He got to his feet and followed them without looking up from his book.

"Is he always like that?"

"I don't think he likes us very much."

"Are we annoying him?"

"He's mean."

"Cat Ears isn't that bad. He's just not very good at expressing himself," Ral said.

Jace sighed, "You're fine guys." _You're annoying as hell._

"His tiger likes us!"

"Yeah."

"What's the kitty's name?"

"Tempest," Jace said evenly. He still had yet to look up from his book.

"Izzy! We've got another class coming!"

"Already? But the other one just left!"

Jace snickered.

"Hi guys. I'm Isabelle and-"

"You can just call her Izzy."

"Emalia," Isabelle snapped. She sighed and turned back to the little people, "We're the music teachers for today."

"Your friend has green hair," Aaliyah said.

Isabelle nodded, "Yeah. She does. Anyway. Um...what do you guys normally do in music?"

"We sing!"

"Or play instruments!"

Isabelle raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Can I play a clarinet please?"

"No," Isabelle shook her head, "There are these things."

"Oh recorders," Sillica smiled, "We play those on Thursdays."

"Well. Let's pretend like today is Thursday." Emalia handed them out quickly.

Jace flattened his ears as dissonant squeaks filled the room.

"Let's play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!" Emalia said excitedly. She smiled, "I'll even sing the song for you guys."

"No Emalia. Please don't sing," Isabelle pleaded.

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!" Emalia wasn't terrible at singing. She just wasn't good at it either. "Up above the world so high! Like a diamond in the sky!" Her singing was better than the squeaking that was continuously coming from the preschoolers' instruments.

The entire music class was filled with similar experiences. Jace sat outside the room reading his book.

"That was great guys!" Emalia smiled, "Be sure to be nice to Jace and Ral alright?"

"Okay!"

"Bye!"

"Bye bye!"

Emalia watched the kids disappear before turning to Isabelle, "God they were awful."

Isabelle shrugged, "They're like four."

Emalia nodded, "Yeah. At least they enjoyed themselves."

Isabelle nodded, "They sounded so bad though."

Jace yawned and looked around. Little kids required way more energy than he wanted to put into them. Tempest at least looked like she was having fun.

"Cat Ears. Let's play a game."

"What game?"

"We're going to play a game," Ral said to the kids.

"What game?!"

"Is it fun?"

"What's it called?"

"Basically," Ral said, "You guys are going to have to search the school for me and Cat Ears. If you find us then you each get a piece of candy." He looked at Jace. _Don't make it impossible for them to find you Cat Ears._

 _Yeah. Yeah._ Jace sighed, "Fine. You guys have to count as high as you can though."

"Okay!"

Jace hurried out of the classroom. Tempest and Kaious followed him. He sighed, "You guys have to be quiet. You can't give me away."

Kaious nodded, "Alright. It looks like Ral's inviting Erin and Whisper's class to play too."

"Yay," Jace muttered.

Erin and Whisper slipped as quietly as they could out of their class and hid. Jace decided to sit on a bookshelf in the school's miniature library. It wasn't even a library by his standards. It was small and didn't have a wide variety of books in it either.

"Jace. Get down," Tessa ordered.

"I'm hiding. Act like I'm not here," Jace hissed.

Tessa glanced at him sideways, "Hiding?"

"Yeah. From little people," Jace shrugged.

She sighed, "Alright. As long as you get down when they find you."

Jace nodded.

"I wonder where they could be," both classes of three to four year olds were wandering the halls of the school, checking every hiding place they could come up with.

Jace grabbed a book and flipped through it. It was a drawing guide, specifically a guide to drawing lilies. He skimmed through it boredly. Tempest crouched down behind the bookshelf, tucking her paws under her chest. Kaious sat on Jace's head.

"Look! It's Tempest!"

"Does that mean Jace is nearby?"

"Let's check."

Jace watched the kids scour the library. Not once did one of them look up. He rolled his eyes, "Up here guys."

"Oh! How'd you get up there?" Kevin asked.

Jace shrugged. He dropped down and Tempest stood and walked out from around the bookshelf, "Alright. Who've you guys found so far?"

"We found Erin in the cafeteria and Ral in the music room."

Jace nodded, "Alright. Where have you not looked?"

"I think we've looked everywhere," Snow muttered.

"We still can't find Whisper."

"What if he got lost?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Jace said evenly. He looked around, "Check the classrooms."

"But-"

"Check them. Just in case," Jace insisted.

The kids nodded and disappeared. He sighed, "Ugh."

"I'm sure most of that 'ugh' is all your mentality," Kaious muttered.

Jace gave him a flat look, "So what if it was?"

"Then cheer up," Kaious shrugged.

"Fine," Jace sighed.

"We found Whisper!" Skie cried.

"Good," Jace nodded. _I still think the teachers are going to laugh hysterically at us. This is still dumb._ He followed the kids back to the classroom.

Ral came in a few moments later with a giant piece of paper, "We're going to design a giant poster!"

Jace stared at him, "Really?"

"What's the book?" Crystal asked.

Jace glanced at her, "Oh." He turned it so she could see it, "Just a guide to drawing lilies."

"You can draw?!"

Jace shrugged, "I've actually never tried."

"Oh. Well Ral got a nice big poster so you can try!"

Jace's eyes widened, "Um...I'd rather not."

"C'mon Cat Ears. It'll be fun."

"I'm not doing a first drawing on a giant piece of paper that you will undoubtedly hang up somewhere," Jace snapped.

"Then we'll all draw something! That way it won't be out of place!" Davvis suggested happily.

Jace swallowed. "Alright," he agreed reluctantly.

"A lily huh?" Ral asked curiously. He flipped through the book, "They're complicated as hell. Damn Cat Ears."

"Shut up. It was just something I was going to read to pass the time," Jace hissed.

The finished product was a mess. There were names written all over it and random messy drawings everywhere. Glitter glue, paint splatters, random scribbles, foam letter stickers littered the poster as well.

"There!" Ral put it up over the whiteboard, "Now it's present for your teacher."

Jace flopped onto his bed the moment they got back, "I am exhausted. Why is dealing with children so exhausting? Why do they have so much energy?"

"You're the one that didn't eat today Cat Ears," Ral said as he walked into the room with a giant bowl of pretzels, crackers and other random snack items. He set the bowl down on one of the few clear spaces in the floor. Jace sat across from him and the two just ate in silence until the bowl was empty.


	11. Chapter 11

Chandra opened her eyes and yawned, "I wonder how much longer we're gonna be here."

Lilianna was already up and getting ready. She shrugged, "I wouldn't know. That all depends on Elspeth really."

"I know. I know. I was just voicing my curiosity," Chandra got to her feet and stretched.

"Are you ever going to style your hair?" Lilianna asked curiously.

"Why? A ponytail's good enough," Chandra shook her head, "I don't have the patience-"

"Come here. I'll do it," Lilianna rolled her eyes, "I'm tired of being associated with a slob."

"I apologize," Chandra snapped. She did as she was bid however.

"Be still," Lilianna ordered preemptively.

"Yeah. Sure," Chandra rolled her eyes.

"I said be still!" Lilianna snapped, "I haven't even started styling it and you're jerking around."

"What the hell are you doing then?!" Chandra glared at her over her shoulder.

"I'm brushing your hair," Lilianna said flatly.

"Why not just comb it?" Chandra asked frustratedly.

"Because brushing it is better for the hair," Lilianna didn't bother going any more in depth than that. Chandra would interrupt her if she did.

"Whatever. How long is this going to take?" Chandra asked impatiently.

"That depends on how still you're going to be," Lilianna smirked. _At least she takes good enough care of her hair for it to be soft and mostly undamaged._

"Fine. I'll be still." Chandra sighed and did her best to ignore the less than gentle pulling on her head. She occupied herself by counting all the different items, especially beauty products, Lilianna had, "How many hair styling torture devices does one need?"

"Plenty," Lilianna said almost proudly, "And they aren't torture devices."

 _They might as well be._ "You spent the Black Lotus card on this didn't you?"

"And if I did? It's not like that vampire has limited what one can buy with his cards. I might as well live comfortably," Lilianna stated.

"Wow. You're an opportunistic, and selfish spoiled little brat," Chandra started to shake her head but stopped quickly when Lilianna pulled hard on her hair. She gritted her teeth, "Maybe if you were gentler I wouldn't be jerking around so much."

"Whose fault is it that your hair is still tangled?" Lilianna put her hands under Chandra chin and tipped her head back, "You could've combed it before this whole thing started." She shrugged and continued brushing Chandra's hair, pointedly ignoring her roommate's first comment.

Chandra watched her set the brush down and sighed. She glanced at the clock. _That was only TWO MINUTES?!_ She groaned and slouched, "That was two minutes!"

"Sit up," Lilianna snapped.

Chandra sighed, "Fine." She sat up and looked around without moving her head. It was amazing how very different the two sides of the room were. Lilianna's side of the room had all sorts of statuettes and other ornaments that were generally gothic medieval themed placed in a visually appealing pattern. Chandra's side of the room was relatively blank and empty. Her desk was littered with papers and random things

"Damn. My head hurts," Chandra glanced at her roommate, "How the hell do you deal with this?"

"I do it everyday," Lilianna said evenly. She turned away, "Class starts in five." She left.

 _What the hell did she do anyway? I mean what kind of hair style takes twenty minutes?_ Chandra sighed and got ready for school quickly.

"You styled your hair?" Ral commented curiously.

Chandra shook her head, "Lili did it."

"Oh," Ral glanced at where Rick was carrying a profusely protesting Jace, "Cat Ears' hair is long enough to style right?"

"Ral. I doubt he'd appreciate the sentiment," Chandra reminded him.

Ral shrugged. He yawned and stretched, "Oh well. Are you going to eat breakfast in the cafeteria today?"

Chandra walked with him towards the school, "Eh. First class is having some sort of thing with food involved so probably not."

"Have you even been eating breakfast lately Beautiful?" Ral asked.

"Of course I have," Chandra nodded, "It's called ice cream. And it's in the freezer of the dorm building."

Ral snickered, "Wow, Beautiful."

"Shut it," Chandra snapped, "Ice cream is a perfectly acceptable breakfast." She sighed, "We're gonna be late. C'mon." She led the way into the building.

"What is your first class anyway?" Ral asked.

"Math."

"Oh. Cat Ears and I have history," Ral stuck out his tongue.

Chandra shrugged, "It's better than math."

"In your opinion," Ral muttered mutinously.

"Even so," Chandra shrugged again, "I'd rather be in art than math."

"I thought you hated having to do anything artistic," Ral snickered.

"That should tell you how much I-"

"Good morning you two," Mrs. Hills said warmly, "Don't be late Chandra."

"Of course not!" Chandra smiled, "I do love math after all!" Once the energetic math teacher disappeared from her sight she scowled.

Ral was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe.

"Shut up," Chandra snapped. She turned on her heel and stalked down the hallway dramatically.

"Chandra!" Melody hurried up to her as she walked into math class.

"Hm?" Chandra looked around curiously. The food was typical for a potluck. There were a lot of snacks and a lot of soda but not much else.

"Do these taste any good?" Melody asked nervously. She stuffed a garlic and butter bread bite into her mouth without waiting for her to speak.

Chandra cocked her head to the side, "They taste fine. Why?"

Melody visibly relaxed, "Okay. Phew." She chuckled somewhat uncomfortably, "Hades and I made them this morning for the potluck but then I left him in charge of them because I was going to be late to volleyball practice-"

"You play volleyball?" Chandra stared at her friend in surprise.

"Well..." Melody's cheeks flushed brightly and she looked away, "Yeah."

"Wow. Alright. You should've told me," Chandra patted the girl on her head. The two of them were technically the same age but Melody wasn't very confident in anything she did and was very shy and easily embarrassed. She seemed very much younger. She shook her head, "You haven't had any games yet have you?"

Melody shook her head, "No. I thought you would've known. You are a part of student council."

Chandra laughed, "Claire and Lili don't let me do any admin stuff. I'm just in charge of the school activities budget and the promotion of different activities that the council does for the students and staff, like festivals and stuff."

"I thought Izzy did that," Melody said in confusion.

"We both do," Chandra nodded, "It's kind of a shared role type thing."

"Oh," Melody nodded, "Okay."

"Wow. You two are _so_ cute," Emalia appeared out of nowhere.

Melody squeaked in surprise, "Where'd you come from?!"

"Over there," Emalia pointed across the room where Kyle was laughing and Whisper just looked confused, "Are you two dating? If not you totally should. You'd make such an adorable couple."

"Wha-NO!" Melody shook her head quickly.

Chandra stared dully at the green haired girl that was pacing in front of her, "Emalia...why?"

"C'mon," Emalia grinned. She looked at Melody, "By the way what's up with you and Hades?"

"Huh? He helps me bake things and wants me to teach him how to cook," Melody explained, innocently missing what Emalia was hinting at completely.

"Emalia," Chandra snapped.

"Huh?" Emalia smirked.

Chandra sighed, "Melody, go find something to do."

"O-okay?" Melody asked in confusion. She walked over to Whisper and Kyle.

Chandra looked at Emalia, "Don't ruin her innocence."

"I'm not. I'm just wondering if it was a thing," Emalia grinned broadly.

"And yet not even two seconds before that you suggested that the two of us become a thing," Chandra threw her hands into the air, "You can't possibly-"

"Well, there's always Ral."

"Huh?" Chandra stared at her for a moment, "How many romantic suggestions do you have for any given person?"

"Plenty!"

"Not everyone wants advice on their social life you know," Chandra pointed out.

Emalia shrugged, "Unwanted or not it is necessary and I have taken it upon myself to be the deliverer of bright pink packages of love!"

"Whatever," Chandra sighed and gave up, "You have fun."

"I will. Thank you!" Emalia grinned and darted over to the food.

"Emalia, aren't you supposed to be in Mr. Spencer's?" Mrs. Hills asked.

"Um..." Emalia chuckled softly, "Maybe. I'll just take some of this," she sped around the table, "And this, and I'll just go now..." She disappeared out the door.

Chandra shook her head and walked over to Kyle, Whisper and Melody, "So. What's up?"

"Nothing much."

"Rick and I have another design for the Spring Festival promotion posters!" Kyle said excitedly.

Chandra nodded, "Alright. Cool. That'll have to wait until after school though."

"Rick's going to be taking everyone out for lunch today," Whisper said, "At least according to him."

"Yeah," Kyle nodded, "Apparently he's trying to get Jace to eat 'real' food. Something other than crackers and the occasional ice cream."

Chandra shook her head in amusement, "Alright."

"I wonder where we'll be going," Melody said curiously.

"I'm more worried about everyone fitting in the van," Whisper muttered.

Chandra started laughing, "That is gonna be a bit of a problem."

"How many are there now?" Kyle asked.

"Well...to begin with it was Erin, Michael, David, Onyx, Jenny, Tina and I. Melody started hanging out with us a little bit later." Whisper said.

"Then Chandra, Jace, Ral and Lilianna showed up," Melody said, "along with Nix. Then last semester happened."

Chandra snickered.

"Oh yeah! Those tunnels are still there," Kyle snickered.

"That's good," Chandra shrugged, "We might need them again."

By the time math class ended the food was completely gone.

"Kyle. Wake up. Class is over," Chandra growled frustratedly and kicked him in the leg.

He squawked and sat upright quickly.

"Class is over," Chandra repeated impatiently.

"Oh. Okay," the brunette yawned and stretched and followed her out of the classroom, "Why is it so bright?"

"It's ten in the morning," Chandra refrained from calling him a name.

"Has Rick told anyone where we're going for lunch?"

Chandra glanced at him, "You're already thinking about lunch?!" She shook her head, "Why am I still surprised? And I wouldn't know because I've been in class."

"Cat Ears! Wait!" Ral wailed as he hurried past them through the hall.

"Leave me alone."

Chandra snickered, "Typical those two I see." Suddenly she put her hand in her pocket. She snarled, "You sneaky, sneaky little brat." She glanced at Kyle, "Rick is right there so ask him yourself." She darted through the halls, maneuvering around people to get to Jace.

Jace noticed her and shot away.

Chandra could just see the chain of the medallion wrapped around two of his fingers in his left hand. She tackled him, "Gotcha! Give it back!"

"No!" Jace wriggled out of her grasp.

She cursed under her breath and scrambled to her feet. She raced after him, catching him a second time. The medallion was securely wrapped around his wrist and taking it from him would more than likely end up breaking it. _Dammit._

"Get off me," Jace tried to escape a second time.

Chandra took the ring from him and rolled away, "Mine!"

"No!" Jace reached for it but she managed to hold onto it through his telekinesis and pull it out of his reach before he could grab a hold of it. "Ha!" Chandra smirked, "It is mine."

"Dammit," Jace growled, "Give it." He held out his right hand insistently.

"No. You're being impolite," Chandra got to her feet and put her hands on her hips. She kept her grip on the ring tight. She could feel pieces of it digging into her palm but ignored it.

"Why is your hair different? I thought you didn't have the patience to style it beyond a messy ponytail," Jace attempted to divert her attention.

"Actually I didn't style it. Lilianna did," Chandra smirked.

Jace cocked his head to the side, "She did?"

Chandra nodded.

"I'm surprised it actually looks better than it normally does," he growled and stormed off.

Chandra snickered, "Nice try." She sighed and walked up to her science teacher, "Hey. Do you have a chain or cord or something?"

"Um…maybe. Why?"

"Because I have something I want to put on a cord."

Ms. Eve searched through her desk. Eventually she pulled out a cord, "Will this do?"

Chandra nodded, "Thanks Ms.."

"You're welcome, Student."

Chandra scowled and stuck her tongue out at her before sitting down.

"You can be so childish," Claire muttered disapprovingly.

"Sorry my personality is more appealing than yours," Chandra shrugged and put the ring on the cord. She then put it in her pocket. _There. That should work. Hopefully it's sturdy enough._ She yawned and looked around at all the science posters that littered the room. _Why is science important again?_ She sighed, "What are we doing today again?"

"A test," Jade said happily.

"Oh," Chandra rested her chin on her hand and zoned out as the teacher explained the rules of the test.


	12. Chapter 12

"Cat Ears! I need you to test this for me!"

"What?" Jace asked. _I knew I offered to help but I didn't necessarily mean being his guinea pig._

"This thing," Ral set what appeared to be a suit of armor connected to it's self via tubing and wiring and all sorts of other things that would inevitably get in the way of any sort of movement.

Jace stared at it for a moment, "What is that?"

"It's the current model of our mana fix," Ral explained, "If it works then naturally Echo and I can work to stream line it. Right now we just need to know if it'll work."

"And if it...doesn't?" Jace asked skeptically.

"Well according to calculations then it should work enough that drawing on mana will only make you sick," Ral explained.

Jace looked at him, "Have you tried it yourself?"

"No. I can't get this thing on," Ral shook his head quickly.

Jace's eyes narrowed, "Right..."

"C'mon Cat Ears. Please. You'll only have to draw on mana for like a second. I promise," Ral stated confidently.

Jace bit his lower lip.

"What's the harm?" Kaious asked.

Jace shrugged, "I could die if his calculations aren't as accurate as he thinks they are."

Kaious choked back a laugh, "Yeah but if it works then you won't have to worry about anything anymore and you'll be able to get Chandra to give you the medallion."

"How the hell did she get it any-"

"Cat Ears. Please?"

"Fine," Jace snapped. He rolled his eyes.

"Okay! Can you put it on yourself or do you need help?"

Jace glanced at it and then looked at Ral, "I probably can't."

"You are hopeless Cat Ears."

"I have had absolutely no reason to wear armor in the past and I have even less reason to do so now," Jace snapped.

"Yeah. Yeah." Ral placed the chest piece on Jace's shoulders.

"God damn. That's heavy," Jace grunted. He sighed and held the medallion in front of his face by the chain.

"I thought you had the ring Cat Ears," Ral commented.

"Eh, I lost it."

"You lost it or Chandra took it from you because you took that from her?" Kaious asked.

Jace remained silent.

"Why are you two fighting about it anyway?" Ral asked curiously, "I mean isn't the whole point for the group in general to have custody of all three pieces?"

"So? She won't let me study the piece that she has."

"That might be because you've been stealing it from her continuously," Kaious suggested.

"She started this," Jace snapped.

"Are you coming with us to lunch Cat Ears?" Ral asked.

"Probably not." Jace shrugged.

"Rick, Michael and David won't let you opt out," Kaious reminded him.

He scowled, "Then yeah. Probably."

Ral snickered, "There. Now try." He held a device that was connected to the plates via a wire that would measure what levels of the mana being drawn were poisonous.

Jace sighed, "If I'm sick you get to explain to them why I'm not going to lunch. They won't believe me."

Ral nodded, "Alright."

"Also I would suggest creating something of an area effect instead so that you don't have to copy this exactly however many times," Jace rolled his eyes. _I thought that would've been obvious but apparently not._ He drew on a tiny shred of mana.

"Okay, stop," Ral chuckled, "It doesn't work completely."

"I'm not going to die am I?" Jace asked harshly.

"No Cat Ears. It worked that well. It just didn't work completely. At most .07 percent of the mana drawn can be poisonous in order for it to be considered safe to use."

"And it was more than .07?" Jace asked.

Ral nodded, "Yeah. It was 2.91 percent. That's not a deadly amount. In fact you'll just feel queasy for a few hours, nothing more. It worked better than-never mind."

"RAL!"

Ral squealed and darted away. He shot out of the dorm room and down the stairs.

Jace teleported out of the encumbering device and raced after him.

"AH!" Ral shot quickly into the office and hid behind the principal and assistant principal who were on their way out of it.

Jace skidded to a stop in the hall outside the office, "You said it'd be fine!"

"It just worked better than I thought!" Ral insisted in a high pitched voice, "I knew it'd work fine!"

"You _said_ -"

"That's enough you two," the principal interrupted in a gentle but firm voice.

Jace snapped his jaw shut with a click.

 _That's right. Cat. Respect your superiors._ Jace recognized the voice of Xerxes in his head. He forced his expression to remain the same.

The assistant principal shook her head in amusement.

"Now. What happened?" the principal asked.

"I had Cat Ears test something for me and if the test didn't work out then he could've died but he didn't die because it worked better than I thought it would and he got mad at me," Ral explained, still hiding behind him.

"I could've died," Jace insisted.

Tempest nodded and flicked her tail from where she sat next to Jace.

"You didn't," Ral offered sheepishly.

"How much better did it work?" the assistant principal asked.

"About seven percent."

" _SEVEN_?!" Jace stared at him, "Then I really could have died!""

"No!" Ral shook his head quickly, "It has to be more than fifteen percent to be poisonous enough to kill. You just would've been...very sick."

Jace's eyes narrowed. He turned away, "I'm going to the cafeteria." His tail lashed as he stalked away.

Ral chuckled nervously, "Thanks guys." He hurried after Jace.

"Hey guys!" Rick greeted them happily.

"Hey!" Ral grinned.

Jace stalked right past him without a word.

"Something wrong Jace?"

"No," Jace said evenly.

"I kind of pissed him off," Ral said guiltily.

"Oh," Rick chuckled, "Alright. So. Who wants lunch?"

"Lunch?!" Kyle looked up instantly.

"Everything was all blurry-lunch?" Jenny repeated him mid-sentence.

Tina laughed, "Wow."

Rick nodded, "Yep. We're all going out today. Hey Jace. Where do you wanna go?"

"Don't care." Jace definitely felt queasy now. _At least I'm not dizzy. Ral. I'm going to murder you._ He glared at Ral.

"Alright..." Rick looked around for suggestions.

"The hotel!" Kyle said excitedly, "I've never had the food there and I really really want to try it. The fact that people know that hotel in Ascension City because of it's food..." he trailed off almost dreamily.

Jace looked at him sideways, "Seriously?"

"He dreams about food," Yuri shrugged.

Jace shook his head.

"Alright. That's within walking distance," Rick looked at Onyx, "Right?"

Onyx nodded, "Yes."

"Sweet."

"That means we're not dog piling in Onyx's car right?" Melody asked.

Rick nodded.

"Some wouldn't have done so either way," Tessa said evenly.

Onyx nodded, "Understandable."

"Let's go!" Jenny leaped to her feet, nearly crashing into Kamiya. Kamiya teleported away from her in surprise. Jenny turned to her, "Sorry! We're going to lunch. C'mon!" She grabbed Kamiya's wrist and dragged her out of the cafeteria.

"Jenny!" Melody called. She hurried after her, "Wait!"

Tina rolled her eyes.

Jace looked around, counting how many people walked past him out of the cafeteria. _That's a lot. 30 people? When did the group get so big? Why do I spend my time with these people?_

"Cat Ears," Ral called.

"C'mon," Rick added, "Nobody's gonna eat till everybody's present cause I'm not leaving anybody behind."

Jace sighed, "Fine. I'm coming." He followed the group through the streets toward the hotel.

"Well, that's quite the large group you have there, Phoenix," Shadow commented once everyone filed in.

Jace sighed. _Thirty._ He looked around dully. The cafe part of the building wasn't particularly busy since most people were working or in school currently.

Rick ordered everything on the menu and Jenny led the way to a really large table. The table was polished, sturdy wood. The wood was a deep caramel color. The seats were the same color as the table and comfortably cushioned.

"Hey guys. You've like fucktupled in size since the last time I saw you," Dragon snickered.

Jenny grinned, "Hi!"

"Hey, Short Stuff's friend," Dragon grinned, "What's up Motor Mouth?"

"Nothing much really. We're just all here today to try and get Jace some real food and to gouge ourselves."

"Short Stuff?" Ral asked curiously.

"Yeah..." Dragon trailed off and looked at Chandra.

Jace's eyes narrowed and he looked from Dragon to Chandra and back again. _I could always look into Dragon's head but-_

 _Short Stuff is Dragon's nickname for Phoenix's first pupil, Dove, who is now dead._ _Well...in a state of limbo between realms as Rheah saw her death as unfair and intervened, preserving her soul and body._ Kurai's voice rang in Jace's head.

"Oh yeah!" Jenny grinned and started bouncing happily, "Caidence said that he found Yonna's remains finally and that there's enough of her left for a person experienced in resurrection magic to bring her back."

Chandra's eyes widened but she remained silent.

Dragon raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

Jenny nodded, "He's just not experienced enough to do it and there's no one in the area that can use that kind of magic. That's the only problem."

"Couldn't Elspeth do it?" Ral suggested curiously.

"Maybe!" Jenny said happily.

Jace rolled his eyes.

"Dragon! Your job?" Lily reminded him pointedly.

Dragon cringed, "Right! Sorry."

 _Interesting._ Jace cocked his head to the side. _Is that even possible?_

 _For one as powerful as Rheah or myself, yes. It is._

 _You've done that before?_ Jace glanced at the demon curiously.

 _Yes. Actually. It's the reason Rick, Emalia, and Kyle amongst others are still here. Also it's the reason Isabelle isn't caught up in some evil plot because someone took advantage of her situation._

 _Oh_. Jace sighed. _You couldn't have left them there?_

 _No._

 _Oh._ He knew it was cruel of him to think that but most of the time he really did wish they'd at least leave him alone. He watched Dragon and Lily bring up everything on the menu. He still felt queasy and none of it looked any good.

"Jace. Shadow said that if you eat a full plate of something she'll make you some pie."

"What? Really?!" Jace looked at Lily in surprise.

Lily nodded. Her long blond hair was braided behind her back, revealing her pointed ears. The braid was woven around the black draconic horns that rose elegantly from where her forehead curved towards the top of her head. "But you have to eat a full plate of something."

Jace deflated, "Dammit."

Chandra started laughing.

"You didn't see how quickly your face fell," Cain said expressionlessly.

Jace scowled.

"I see. We just have to bribe him with pie," Michael said teasingly.

"No," Jace insisted.

"That's mean," Melody insisted.

"Hold him hostage with pie!" David did his best to imitate a typical maniacal villain cackle. He burst out into genuine laughter before long.

"I'm going back to the dorm," Jace said. He got to his feet and started to leave.

"No!" Rick, Kyle, Ral, Michael and David cried in near unison.

Jace glared at them, "Why not?"

"Because the food tastes good," Kyle said.

"Because you actually want that pie so you're going to stay and eat at least a little bit so you can have it," Chandra suggested confidently.

Jace crossed his arms over his chest, "No."

"Then I can tell Shadow not to waste her time," Lily suggested.

Jace gritted his teeth. He lowered his head, "Fine. I'll stay."

Chandra smirked, "See."

"We love you!" Jenny insisted with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Sure," Jace muttered as he sat back down.

"What do you want though?" Rick asked, "I mean we basically have our own buffet here so, pretty much whatever you want can be done."

"Spaghetti," Jace muttered. _This is why I don't hang out with them._

"What kind of food do you like?" Erin asked curiously.

"I don't like most food," Jace shrugged.

"You know what right now would be perfect for?" Jenny asked excitedly.

"What?" Tina asked.

"A eating contest."

"Once those of us that don't want to participate have finished eating," Tessa said calmly.

Jenny nodded, "Okay!"

Jace stared dully at the spaghetti Rick had served him. There wasn't too much. He couple probably eat it and some pie as well but he didn't want to, "I don't want it."

"Well you have to eat it or Shadow's not going to give you the pie," Alice reminded him. She was eating the mountain of caramel ice cream that Cristi had insisted she be given.

Jace sighed and poked at the noodles in dull disinterest.

"Jace." Lily sighed as she returned, "You're going to want to eat them before they get cold."

"I know," Jace muttered. _Why do they insist that I eat when I'm not hungry?_ He nibbled on a bread stick. All the others were conversing comfortably around him. Everyone seemed to be having their own conversations.

"Hey Jace."

"Hm?" Jace looked up.

"Who looks better?" Michael asked, "David? Or Kyle?"

Jace shrugged, "I don't know. Um...Kyle."

"You're just spiting me!" David began to pitch a dramatic fit. He stopped instantly when Lily hit him in the back of the head with the back of her hand.

Jace snickered.

"You deserved that," Yuri muttered.

David whined.

Jace sighed.

"Bubbles. Bubbles. Bubbles. Bubbles!"

"Jenny, what are you going on about?"

"Bubbles," Jenny shrugged.

Jace rolled his eyes and ignored Jenny. She never made any sense. He continued to eat his bread stick. Finally he ate everything and skirted around the group to where Shadow was standing behind the counter.

"Here's your pie. You guys better go back to class!" Shadow called at the group, "Or Lily will have your heads!"

"You have till the count of ten to be out the door," Lily said intimidatingly.

Jace took the pie and teleported back to his dorm room. He hid the pie and lied down on his stomach, "I don't understand how they have so much energy. They're all crazy." The day had been filled with eating contests and dance-offs. Emalia and Jenny were singing and they sounded terrible, especially when singing together. Everybody was singing and maybe two or three of them didn't sound bad. There were random a cappella moments. They all had so much energy. It had been fun but he was exhausted and didn't want to do anything anymore.

"Cat Ears!"

"No."

"C'mon! We're finally taking down the tree!"

"No."

"Let's go!" Ral picked him up and carried him down the stairs.

"No." Jace didn't bother struggling. He knew he didn't have a choice. The people he hung out with were hell bent on exhausting him and if he tried to escape they would hunt him down. _Maybe...I can make it a game. So that it's not just me being resigned but it's actually something that would entertain me for a little bit. I mean it's not like I have a choice in the matter anyway._


	13. Chapter 13

Chandra yawned dramatically. She pulled the medallion out of her pocket. Once again she had the medallion and Jace had the ring. It'd been two days and all they did was fight over the two pieces. _Bring the ring and the medallion together and all will be made clear._ "This isn't getting me anywhere."

"Really?" Lilianna asked sarcastically, "You do realize that every time you steal it from you he will either steal it back or steal the other one from you."

Chandra shrugged, "It's fun though."

"I'm not sure he finds it fun," Lilianna commented dryly.

"Since when did you care. Besides. I'm sure he does. He'd have killed me by now if he didn't."

"Or he's just completely resigned to this being the reality."

"I think you're too cynical," Chandra flopped onto her bed, "I mean c'mon. It's not like Jace has ever admitted he's having fun."

"I doubt having something stolen from him over and over is fun for him," Lilianna pointed out.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "Whatever." She sighed, "Anyway, even if it is I'm ending this tomorrow."

"How?"

"I have a plan!" Chandra grinned, "Otherwise you don't get to know."

"Why not?"

Chandra sat up and looked at her, "I don't trust you to keep your mouth shut."

"So you still don't trust me after all I've done to help you?" Lilianna shook her head and made a clicking noise.

"I said I didn't trust you to keep your mouth shut. And after our previous interactions do you really think I would trust you?" Chandra reminded her.

"No. I'm also sure you are well aware of my view on our current circumstances," Lilianna shrugged.

"Yeah," Chandra nodded, "Besides. I don't have to indulge you. You're younger than me."

"That's only more reason to do so," Lilianna smirked, "You wouldn't want to turn your little sister against you would you?"

"You've already turned to against me," Chandra snorted.

Lilianna raised her eyebrow, "Really?"

Chandra nodded.

Lilianna chuckled, "Whatever you say."

"Besides, if I'm your big sister you have to treat me with respect," Chandra crossed her arms over her chest and stomped insistently.

"Not if you're going to act like a spoiled five year old," Lilianna pointed out flatly.

Chandra glared at her, "You're the spoiled one."

"Really?" Lilianna shook her head, "I don't think so. Even if I was I'm obviously more mature than you on any given day."

"You also have no idea how to have fun," Chandra smirked, "You really should try it sometime. It's relaxing."

"Everyone's definition of fun is different."

"What do you find fun then?" Chandra asked.

Lilianna snickered, "Watching you suffer."

Chandra rolled her eyes, "What else?"

Lilianna held up a beautiful fairy statuette, "Collecting these." She shrugged, "I also enjoy designing my own clothes and many other things."

Chandra nodded, "Alright. So when do you actually do all that stuff though?"

"When I can," Lilianna shrugged. She lifted her head, "Xerxes is back."

"Great," Chandra could feel his presence more clearly than before. He was more powerful than before he'd left. She snarled, "Things should get exciting before too long then."

"Unfortunately," Lilianna looked at her roommate curiously, "Would you leave this place forever if you had the option?"

"Not forever," Chandra shrugged, "It's a good spot to take a break from life. It's much easier in many ways."

"Life is much simpler when you aren't worried about whether or not you have enough power to survive whatever tries to leap out at you," Lilianna shrugged. She looked out the window intently, "I wonder how long it will take for this to end."

"No clue," Chandra studied her, "What's up with you? You've been distant lately."

"I'm wondering how much longer it will before we get a break. How many more times will the loop repeat? If that happens how will our next lives go? How terrible will our lives become if the loops continues to repeat? How much better will our lives become if the loop continues to repeat?" Lilianna looked at her seriously, "And what about the multiverse? Things that effect the entire multiverse like this loop often have catastrophic consequences."

Chandra shrugged, "I'm sure we can deal with that if it comes."

"I'm not," Lilianna said flatly, "I've spent much of my time looking into the consequences of something like this. The multiverse could end up like this world, poisoned mana. There isn't any way to stop it now that the loops have been repeated so many times. I've looked."

Chandra shrugged again, "There will be a way. Even if it is just time."

"Time is not something we have much of Chandra," Lilianna said sharply.

"Sure. But the multiverse-"

"The multiverse will be broken. A single world can fix itself but the whole multiverse? Without the goddess in charge of keeping everything in it's proper place the mana will be poisoned beyond the levels of this world. That's the best case scenario. The worst is the destruction of _everything_. Every world. Every person. Every subrealm."

Chandra sighed, "What goddess?"

Lilianna rolled her eyes, "How many times have you been here and you haven't bothered looking into any of that?"

"I'm sorry but I don't think gods or goddesses exist," Chandra snapped.

"Some do. Take Theros for example. That plane's gods exist."

Chandra rolled her eyes, "So? Even then they aren't really gods. They're just more powerful than a normal human."

Lilianna got to her feet and looked down at Chandra, "The artifact we're looking for is directly tied to the goddess that kept everything in place. She was destroyed and the artifact was lost. The last person to know of it's location was Serra."

"Hence the reason it's called Serra's Lost Treasure. Even so-"

"The Infinite Timelines is an artifact that was split into three pieces. It records every single event that has happened and every single possibility for the future. It also has a self destruct command. If it should self destruct then, one, all of that information will be lost forever and, two, every single world within an unbelievably large radius will be completely destroyed."

"How the hell do you know so much?" Chandra asked suspiciously.

"Unlike you I have been doing what we came here to do," Lilianna sat back down, "I've read every single book I could find on The Infinite Timelines. There is now way that I can find to stop the catastrophic consequences of Ugin's misuse of time magic."

Chandra raised an eyebrow. _Somehow I doubt that's the only reason. There's always another reason with Lilianna._ "Okay. So while you've been researching it-"

"You've been fighting with Jace over who gets to have which piece instead of looking for the third piece," Lilianna snapped, "The point is for the group to have the three pieces. There's no point in the two of you fighting over it."

"I already said the fighting was going to stop tomorrow!" Chandra snapped angrily.

"And I don't believe you!" Lilianna retaliated.

"Then watch me!" Chandra hissed. She rolled her eyes, "It'll stop tomorrow. Goodnight."

Lilianna's eyes narrowed, "It better." She flipped the lights off, "Goodnight." _Interesting. Of course she didn't miss the fact that I knew so much. However I've been looking into the Infinite Timelines for far longer than any of the others have known about it. Hopefully Jace will find the book, read it, and share. He only really has to share it with one of them. He is after all a more reliable source than I am for them. Not that I mind at all._ She laid down on her back and stared at the ceiling. _This is turning out to be a very interesting experience. And there is a solution. They'd rather hear it from Jace than me though._ She shrugged and rolled over onto her side. She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep until she actually was.

Chandra opened her eyes. It was still dark though the horizon was colored a light grey blue color, "Before dawn? Again?" She sighed and sat up. Lilianna looked like she was still asleep. Chandra yawned and stretched. She got to her feet and wandered out of the room. It was a few hours before school started so she had plenty of time. _I wonder if I really will be able to finish it today. It depends on if Jace does what I want him to. Knowing him probably not._ She sighed, "Damn. Life's so difficult." _Oh well. It'll happen. One way or another. It'll happen._


	14. Chapter 14

Jace growled and tried to wriggle free as Chandra pinned him to the ground.

"Be still for half a moment," the redhead hissed angrily.

"Why?!" Jace snapped, "I know-" He stopped as she slid the ring into the indentation of the medallion. "What are you doing?!" He stared at it as a bright gold light flashed, blinding both of them. "Get off me!" He snapped once he could see again. He sat up and looked around. They were no longer in the dorm common room but in an unfamiliar citadel. He swallowed and hurried to his feet, "Great. Where are we?"

Both of them were looking around in shock. Suddenly the doors that appeared to be the entrance to the citadel flew open and Elspeth followed the vampire, Sorin Markov, into a large palace like structure. The inside was illuminated, not by lights, but by a dragon. The creature glowed with a soft pale blue light. Her eyes narrowed.

Sorin shrugged, "He wanted to see you. I'm just playing messenger."

"Elspeth Tirel."

Elspeth looked at the dragon calmly, "Yes?" Her voice was polite but nothing more.

"I asked Sorin to bring you here because I must ask something of you. You may be aware of this but a rival of mine-"

"If you do not wish to get to the point then I am wasting my time here," Elspeth said simply. Dokuri's wish echoed in her head. " _Protect the rest of the multiverse. This world is lost but the multiverse still needs someone to watch over it."_

"Very well," the dragon nodded, "I am Ugin. A rival of mine is gathering forces for a...power grab essentially."

"He's trying to take over the multiverse, establish himself as a god, and rule over every world currently present and all the ones to come," Elspeth assumed.

"You are assuming."

"Yes. But she also figured out exactly what you were saying faster than you wanted her to," Sorin smirked.

Ugin glanced at him but did not pay any more attention to his comment.

"What of it?" Elspeth asked. She assumed the dragon was asking for her assistance but she was not going to agree to an assumption.

Ugin's eyes narrowed, "You are quite the stubborn one, Angel."

"My name is Elspeth. Anything else _will_ be ignored," Elspeth said forcefully.

Sorin whistled softly.

Ugin studied her silently for a moment, "Very well Elspeth. I would like to ask for your assistance. After all the goddess Dokuri gave you her power. You'd be an invaluable ally."

Elspeth paused for a moment, "I have terms of my assistance."

"Continue," Ugin prompted.

"Call me Elspeth," Elspeth held up her fingers to count the terms, "I will act as I see fit and no differently. As your ally I _will_ be treated as an equal and not as a subordinate. Also I can add whatever terms I wish starting now to the time the coming conflict ends."

Ugin paused for a moment. He nodded slowly, "Very well. I agree."

Elspeth nodded.

Sorin whistled again. He followed her out of the hall. "Quite the forceful one aren't you...Elspeth."

Elspeth shrugged, "I have no need to explain myself to you."

"Of course not," Sorin nodded. He smirked as he watched Elspeth walk away. He glanced at Ugin, "You know you're the one that made her like this. Without your interference she might be a little more cooperative."

"Cooperative would be helpful but she is more helpful like this," Ugin said.

"Whatever you say," Sorin shook his head. _And yet with the way you operate she will be enraged before long. However I do see her putting duty before personal preference. Therefore she will see this through to the end but no farther._

"Wait a...minute..." Jace looked around curiously. He wandered up to Elspeth and waved his hand in front of her face. He looked at Chandra.

"They can't see us," Chandra glanced at Ugin, "So that's what he looks like."

Jace followed her gaze, "He's huge." He stepped back until he didn't have to turn his head to such a painful angle to see the dragon in it's entirety. He looked at Chandra, "Is Bolas just as big?"

"I think he's bigger," she answered honestly.

"Bigger?!" Jace looked around, "It looks like…a paused movie."

"It does. Probably because we're not paying attention to it anymore," Chandra shrugged, "That's what Orriyon meant."

"Orriyon?" Jace glanced at her in confusion.

Chandra shook her head. She felt a deep sadness stab through her heart. Jace didn't remember Orriyon had even existed. She knew that was the fate Orriyon had always faced but it still hurt to know she was quite possibly the only one that remember the Oracle.

Jace shrugged and looked at Elspeth and Sorin again, "How old is Elspeth?"

"I have no idea," Chandra shook her head.

"I know Rick gave me a book that I have yet to read-"

"You haven't read it yet?"

"No. I had little context for it at the time," Jace snapped.

"So naturally you are giving yourself that context."

Jace nodded.

"Not there yet?" Chandra looked at him curiously.

Jace shook his head, "No." He turned back to the scene before them, "Let's see what happens when we start paying attention again."

Chandra turned her attention back to Sorin, Elspeth and Ugin.

The scene changed dizzyingly quickly. Everything swirled and changed around them. The images passing them by were blurred, one into another and the next. Finally everything stopped moving.

Jace shook his head, "That was unpleasant."

"I'm sure," Chandra sat down on the ground. They were still in the same citadel. The soaring arched ceiling and bare blue-white walls hadn't changed. Currently it was just Ugin. He appeared smaller than he had the last time and had a more humanoid appearance. He was sitting, reading a book. He looked up expectantly as Elspeth threw open the doors to the dragon's hall. Her eyes were narrowed with harsh cold anger, "What the hell were you thinking?"

"It had to be done Elspeth," Ugin said.

"I understand that but you took advantage of the Original girl's loyalty to create an incomplete being that would not turn against you," Elspeth hissed.

"This wouldn't have anything at all to do with the fact that she is the child of a close friend?" Sorin asked as he followed her in. He closed the doors with a shake of his head. "Who is now dead," he added after a moment.

Elspeth rounded on him, "Silence. Sorin."

He raised an eyebrow, "Very well."

"Elspeth. It is a small sacrifice in comparison to what-"

" _Could_ happen. It is a small sacrifice in comparison to what _could_ happen!" Elspeth snarled. She glared at Ugin, "The Esper will always know what she is and always know her inevitable fate. You knew that if you took just from the boy then she would become resentful and angry and eventually turn to Bolas' empty promises of salvation. That's why there are two Originals."

"I do understand why you're taking this so personally but wasn't it your choice to leave the three children in the care of someone who was extremely unqualified to look after magic wielders?" Sorin pointed out.

Elspeth snarled at him, "This has nothing to do with you."

"You're being illogical," Sorin shrugged.

Elspeth gritted her teeth, "I understand why you did what you did Ugin." She fixed him with an icy gaze, "From now on you will keep me informed of your choices yourself instead of allowing me to find out on my own."

"Of course."

Elspeth stalked out of the hall.

"She is becoming quite the handful," Sorin chuckled softly.

"She is an invaluable ally," Ugin insisted.

"I know. I know," Sorin shook his head, "You're on a steep slope Dragon." he left the hall. _And falling._ He added silently once the door closed behind him. He found Elspeth on Sun's Reprieve. The Esper girl was speaking with Gideon. His eyes narrowed. He looked at Elspeth, "Does the girl have a name?"

Elspeth shook her head, "Not yet."

"She looks more like you than she does her two Originals," Sorin commented.

"That is not important," Elspeth stated coldly.

"Who are their parents?" Sorin asked. He glanced at her, "And why leave them with her?"

"The woman they believe to be their mother is their cousin," Elspeth said.

"So you even had their memories manipulated?" Sorin asked in shock.

"For the middle child, yes," Elspeth nodded, "The younger one is too young to remember and the older one will be fine."

Sorin nodded, "Alright. That seems...sly for you, Elspeth."

She shrugged, "I understand why Ugin made the girl. It is advantageous to have an ally that can see the future. I'm most angry about founding out about it from her."

He glanced at her, "Is it difficult for you? To know about the loops and be unable to do anything about it?"

"Of course it is," Elspeth snapped.

"So which one's the youngest this time?" Sorin asked, "Since their ages seem to magically change every time."

"Jace," Elspeth said, "Vadanya is older and Jordyn is oldest."

"It seems only the younger two swap every so often."

"No. Jordyn has been younger than Vadanya on one occasion."

"You pay a lot of attention to them don't you?"

"Of course I do. It is after all my fault their mother is dead. The least I can do is watch over them."

"Then why does Jace continue to end up on the opposite side?" Sorin asked.

"Because some things are out of my control. Out of his control," Elspeth shrugged.

Sorin sighed, "Alright."

Suddenly a tremor shook the castle. The building floated in the air so it didn't normally experience tremors. Elspeth glanced out the window in time to see a pillar of flame rise from a nearby mountain range. She felt an odd tug in her stomach, making her feel almost sick

"What is going on?" Gideon stood next to Elspeth.

Elspeth's eyes narrowed, "I don't know." She hurried out the door and down to the ground. The mountain range wasn't far away. She vaguely knew of a city that was near the mountains but to get up to that part of the mountain would take all day. Elspeth lifted off into the air. Reaching the pillar of flame. As she got closer she could hear an almost feral scream of pain, shock and confusion. She landed outside a cavern. The flames were burning hot and blindingly bright. There were wisps of gold spread throughout the flames now that she was closer. A bright shining gold that surprised Elspeth. Usually gold marked a mage as a user of white mana. Yet there was fire. She entered the cave and saw a young girl, around the age of ten, wreathed in flames. These flames were different from mana created flames, hotter, brighter and more powerful. The girl was not consumed by the flames either. The mountain shook violently. Elspeth struggled to keep her footing. She managed not to fall but stumbled. She watched the girl's brown hair change, starting at the roots, to a flame colored red. Her green eyes faded into a bright orange.

Elspeth couldn't get close to the girl without being turned into a pile of ash, even with every protective enchantment she could cast. She growled. _Dammit._ Suddenly the flames died and the girl was gone. Elspeth hissed and entered the Blind Eternities. The girl left a trail, bright and easy to follow. She was extremely young and already dangerously powerful. After a few moments she lost the trail. _Dammit._

"Well?" Sorin asked.

Elspeth shook her head, "A planeswalker spark ignition."

" _That_ was an ignition?!" Gideon asked in shock.

"It nearly broke the world," Sorin was just as shocked, which was uncommon at best.

Elspeth shrugged, "It was an ignition…I think."

"What exactly happened?" the Esper asked.

Elspeth looked at her and sighed, "Well...the girl was on fire and her hair was originally a sandy kind of brown and her eyes were green. However after a few moments her hair turned red and her eyes turned orange."

The girl's eyes widened, "Seriously?"

Elspeth nodded, "Then she was gone. She left a trail in the Blind Eternities but I lost it after a while."

The girl started to laugh, "Really?!"

Elspeth nodded.

"What's so funny?" Gideon asked curiously.

She shook her head, "Nothing. I think...things are interesting now."

"Interesting how?" Sorin asked dryly.

"I don't know," she stated.

"Hey! One of us should take a look at the rift in the cave," A blond haired girl grinned.

"Chandra! You do it!"

"Huh?" The brown haired girl stared at her friends, "Hell no!"

"C'mon!"

"Yeah! We'll go with you!"

"I dare you," one of her friends' older brother said confidently, "I bet you won't."

Chandra's green eyes narrowed, "Fine. I'll do it." She turned towards the mountain they were climbing. The cave was still a little way up.

"We'll wait outside!" her blond friend smiled happily.

"Alright. Alright," Chandra rolled her eyes, "fine." _Jeez. Why is Alecia's brother always like that? He makes me so mad. I mean It's just a rift but I don't want to go trekking into a cave that could have bears or worse, a dragon. I'm gonna die because of a dare!_ Chandra steeled herself as they drew ever closer to the cave. The mages of the city had identified the rift in the cave. According to their magical lore teacher the rift was a site of highly concentrated red mana. The kind of magic that gave fire and lightning mages their power. Of course, being a group of kids with little to no magical ability meant that the best they could do was study the lore and practices behind the magic that other people could practice. She sighed as jealousy twisted her stomach, not for the first time. She sighed and lowered her head. _Maybe there isn't even a rift at all. I mean that would mean that their detection magic was wrong. If their magic was wrong then maybe it wouldn't be so...prized?_

The group stopped in front of the cave. The crevice leading into it was small.

"Ah man. We won't be able to fit."

"I'll fit," Chandra was the smallest of the group and was able to slide into the crack in the stone. It was a difficult task to maneuver through it, into the cave itself. She sucked her stomach in and gritted her teeth as she continued.

"Looks like we'll have to stay outside, Chandra."

"Sorry!"

"It's-" Chandra growled. She had to speak slowly or risk breaking her concentration, "Fine." Finally she made it threw the entrance and into the cave. Inside the cave was extremely wide and warm. A small fire was rising from a crack on the far side of the cave. Chandra approached it curiously and stared at it. The flames danced of their own will. This was a different kind of fire than the ones that the fire mages created in their hands. These flames followed no one's commands. They did what they wanted, damn the consequences. Chandra sighed and got to her feet, "Well. I've seen it. It's just a bunch of flames that don't even have anything to burn."

 _Chandra._

Chandra paused and turned back to the flames curiously, "Are you...talking?"

 _Chandra._

Chandra knelt down in front of the flames curiously.

 _Chandra._

She leaned in closer to the flames. They were comfortably warm, almost welcoming. _Isn't fire, especially ambient magical fire, supposed to be scorchingly hot? I wonder what'll happen if I touch it._ She reached out her hand. The moment her fingers touched the flames, they roared to life. Power surged through her veins. Her eyes flew wide. The bright faded to a blinding flame colored orange. Her hair lit on fire. It didn't hurt but at the same time it felt like her body was being molded by someone like it was clay. Darkness crept in on the edges of her vision, eventually overtaking her completely.

"That's it?" Chandra asked, "I was a powerless nobody until I got suckered into doing something stupid because of a _dare_? Not cool."

Jace snickered, "That sounds like you."

"You shut it," Chandra snarled.

Jace smirked at her triumphantly, "At least you haven't changed much, if at all."

"Don't forget, you and I were bad guys once upon a time," Chandra reminded him.

"Oh," Jace stuck his tongue out, "Even so. You still have done very little growing as far as your basic personality goes."

"Shut up."

"No."

"I will slap pie into your face."

"What kind of pie?"

"Pecan."

Jace gagged.

Chandra smirked, "Thought so."

"Why pecan?" Jace asked.

"Cause it's great," Chandra muttered, forcing a grin.

"You're gross," Jace said in utter disgust.

"I was being sarcastic you little shit," Chandra snapped angrily.

"So?" Jace asked.

"Whatever. This might be important," Chandra turned her attention away from him.

"You were explosive. Do you still have this kind of power?" Jace asked curiously.

Chandra watched curiously, "Maybe." The previous version of her had no concept of self restraint and actually looked insane. _Maybe all the sudden power got to my head._ "Actually. I don't think I can do that."

"Oh?" Jace asked, "Why not?"

"I'm not insane. The power isn't new. It's something that I've had for however long the combined years of repetition is," Chandra shrugged, "I have no idea."

"Oh," Jace sighed and looked around, "That was your very very first ignition huh? It's different from a normal planeswalker though. How could you go from a powerless nobody to a planeswalker with the amount of power you have just because of a rift?"

"No clue," Chandra shrugged, "At least we'll be prepared for the spiny image change."

Jace shrugged, "Yeah."


	15. Chapter 15

Chandra was ready when the image changed again. She watched intently. The past loops were a complete mystery to them. The events were something she was intensely curious about.

"What's your name?" A woman with black hair and violet eyes knelt down in front of the girl. The ground around the girl was blackened and she was sitting in the center of a crater.

"Huh?" the redheaded girl stared at her, "I...Chandra..." She glanced at the black haired boy standing behind the woman. His blue eyes were flat and cold. He regarded her curiously but his interest was only tangential.

"Chandra. That's a pretty name." The woman got to her feet and held out her hand for the redhead to take, "I am Lilianna and this is Jace."

Chandra took her hand and got unsteadily to her feet. She looked from Lilianna to Jace and back again, "O-okay."

"Jace, be nice to her alright," Lilianna urged.

Jace remained silent but nodded after a moment.

Chandra followed the two of them to a wide but short building sitting in a bowl amongst hills. She glanced at Jace, "Why here?"

He shrugged.

She sighed and repeated the question to Lilianna.

"It's easily defensible. Any intruders would be able to be seen extremely quickly," Lilianna explained.

"Oh. Why would there be intruders?"

"Because we're actually fighting with a...rival group right now," Lilianna explained patiently.

Jace rolled his eyes.

Chandra narrowed her eyes at him.

He met her gaze almost defiantly.

"Jace. Didn't I say be nice?"

"I haven't said anything," Jace muttered.

"You've been less than welcoming," Chandra snapped.

"Sorry. It's not my fault you're ignorant," Jace retaliated. His voice and eyes remained completely calm.

"Alright." Lilianna sighed, "C'mon. We should get inside."

Chandra crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back on him before following Lilianna.

The inside of the building was cool and bright. A man with a terrifying metal arm waited for them in the doorway, "Oh...so this is our new friend huh?"

Jace's eyes narrowed. Chandra stepped sideways so that Lilianna was between the man and herself.

"Shy are we?" he snickered.

"Tezzeret. Really?" Lilianna put her hand up as he went to walk past her, "That's enough. I can always have you removed from the situation if you will not watch yourself."

"Of course," Tezzeret sneered. He glared at her, "I'll be sure to watch my tongue." Jace stepped out of his way as he stalked past them. Chandra glanced at Lilianna, "Why are you working with him?"

"Because the dragon wants us to," Jace answered for her.

Chandra looked at him, "I don't remember asking you."

His eyes narrowed, "Sorry. I'll be sure to hold my tongue next time." His voice was laced with icy sarcasm.

Lilianna sighed, "The dragon does want us to work with him. He may be...unhelpful but he does have his uses."

"I don't see it," Jace muttered.

"What dragon?" Chandra asked. She looked around curiously. The walls floor and ceiling were plated in hard cold metal. What kind of metal was beyond her. Artifact creatures with twisted terrifying appearances did all the house keeping. She cocked her head to the side, "Isn't it a little...odd to use these things for chores and not anything else?"

Lilianna shrugged, "I'm not their creator. They are used for combating summoned creatures but we prefer to fight our more powerful adversaries face to face." She led the two of them down the hall to a door. Beyond the door was a steep set of stairs. She skipped down the stairs confidently.

Chandra's power reacted to her uncertainty. A bright orange light surrounded her, brightly illuminating a three foot radius around her. With the light she was able to go down the stairs more quickly than she would have otherwise. Jace followed behind her.

"Ah."

Chandra's eyes widened as a deep booming voice resounded through the cavern. She looked around Lilianna and saw an immensely large and powerful dragon.

"Welcome," the dragon sounded almost mocking. He studied her carefully. She met the dragon's gaze steadily. Despite his vaguely threatening presence and insane amount of power she was not afraid. He laughed coldly, "Very intriguing, Little One." He looked at Lilianna, "Not even the necromancer, whose command over the dead has never faltered nor has it been matched will meet my gaze." He looked at Jace, "You are the only two to look at me directly." He snickered, "You look calm." His gaze returned to Chandra, "You look defiant. Confident." He sat back and studied her again, "Are you here to stay? Or shall our mind mage release you from the burden of knowing our existence."

Chandra looked around, "I..."

Jace rolled his eyes. _Indecision is not going to work. Make your choice and stick to it._

She met the dragon's gaze, "I'll stay."

"Very intriguing," he nodded, "Very well. Welcome. I'm sure Lilianna has already done her best to make you feel at home here."

Chandra shrugged, "I guess."

"We _just_ picked her up," Jace explained calmly.

"Then it will be your job, Jace, to show her around."

"What?" Jace stared at the dragon, "Why? It's not my-"

"Jace," Lilianna said gently.

He stopped and looked at Chandra, "Of course."

The dragon nodded, "Good. Get to it then."

Jace nodded, "C'mon." He led Chandra back up the stairs.

"Lilianna."

"Yes Bolas?" Lilianna knew this was coming.

"Don't give the girl any reason to leave. Make sure she feels welcome and make sure her loyalty is to you. Not Tezzeret."

"Of course."

"And...watch how those two interact. I am intrigued," Bolas dismissed her with a nod. He looked up at the roof of the cavern. _I must say. I never expected to run into a planeswalker that was_ _ **that**_ _powerful. Her spirit and her magic are strong._ _This is...interesting. Ugin put the loops in place because I refused to die. However with this new addition I wonder what he will do. I doubt even the goddess can compare to her level of power._

"Well..." Jace trailed off uncertainly.

"Slimy manipulative little jerkwad," Chandra muttered angrily, "I don't like him." _I was a sassy little brat. Damn._

"I'm not sure I like...me as odd as that sounds," Jace shrugged.

Chandra glanced at him, "At least we're both proof that something changed."

Jace nodded, "Yeah."

"I don't like Tezzeret either."

"He was different this time," Jace shrugged.

Chandra yawned, "I wonder if we'll be stuck in some form of limbo until somebody comes to get us."

Jace gave her an alarmed look, "I hope not!"

Chandra shrugged, "It is possible." She turned back to the projection they were watching, "Ready?"

Jace nodded.

"Orriyon," Elspeth looked at her, "Are you alright?"

"Yes." The Esper looked at Elspeth, "This loop will be repeated."

"Again?" Elspeth sighed.

"We're making progress," Orriyon said encouragingly.

"Yes, but how many more times must we repeat our lives. They don't even know anymore. The single loop is all they know."

Orriyon shrugged, "Vadanya will be older than Jace this time."

"What about Jordyn?"

"Oldest."

"Ah. Can you do something for me?"

Orriyon looked at her, "Yes?"

"In the next loop, live with them. See if your presence will change something," Elspeth requested.

Orriyon smiled, "Sure. They are the closest thing to family I have after all." Her smile faded quickly, "I don't even know Vadanya and the only thing I know of Jace is…" she trailed off but Elspeth knew what she was talking about. Jace was not the nicest person currently.

"This final battle will be brutal. Bolas has the fire girl."

"He does?" Elspeth wasn't surprised. Lilianna was adept at taking advantage of circumstances. Elspeth had lost the girl and couldn't locate her so Lilianna became her guide when she was lost and confused. "What is the 'fire girl'?" She looked at Orriyon.

"Well she's a planeswalker. A fire mage and a little more than...normal," Orriyon shrugged, "I have no idea what she is."

Elspeth sighed. The sun was setting. A bright ball of orange and red flames crashed into the side of the building, destroying the wall.

"Sorry to drop by without asking," the redhead smirked.

"We didn't invite you," Sorin shrugged, "But I'm sure adjustments can be made."

"Don't bother with the flattery Vampire," Lilianna said evenly.

"Sorry," Elspeth got to her feet and drew her sword. Her eyes narrowed.

"Let's take this outside," Gideon suggested.

The redhead was completely on fire. She might as well have been an elemental. Elspeth recognized Jace as well as Tezzeret. Lilianna stood next to Chandra. Her eyes changed from the bright blue they normally were to a deep gold. _Here we go._

"Wow," Jace cocked his head to the side, "Who knew Elspeth and Sorin were so sassy?"

"I knew Sorin had a mouth but damn," Chandra laughed.

"You know something," Jace looked at her calmly.

"Huh?"

"It would be nice if you still looked as crazy as you are," he said flatly.

Chandra stared at him, "Hey! That's not nice! I am _not_ that crazy anymore!"

Jace shrugged, "Still. You look pretty sane. You're not really but you definitely look it."

"I am sane."

"Yeah," Jace muttered sarcastically, "I'll believe that when you give up pyromancy."

"Not happening."

"Exactly," Jace snapped.

"Still, we are here for a reason," Chandra motioned to their surroundings.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know." Jace wasn't entirely sure if he really wanted to watch anymore. He studied the ground for a moment before stealing himself and lifting his head. _Something forced a change. I don't change that easily. I know this. Something forced a change. Something big._

"A spell? Of what sort?" Lilianna cocked her head to the side.

Jace shrugged, "I don't know. The guy's head just said that it would replace the caster's memories with another person's."

"Really?" Lilianna glanced at the black haired boy, "Did he say whether or not the spell was mana aligned or not?"

Jace shook his head, "No."

"Let me see it then," Lilianna reached out her hand, "I have the resources to look further into it."

Jace looked at her almost excitedly, "You'll tell me if you find anything more?!"

Lilianna chuckled and put her hand on top of his head, "Of course."

He set the scroll in her hand, regaining much of his composure.

Lilianna sat in her room, turning the scroll case over in her hands, "I wonder..." She opened the scroll case and pulled the paper out.

 _There have been many loops before this one. This spell will pull you out of the loops. You will trade the memories you have now for a random loops' version of you. Having been pulled out of the loops you will no longer be reborn when the loop is repeated unless you died in the previous loop but you will be born with the knowledge of all previous loops beginning when you cast this spell._

"Interesting. So I cast the spell and every loop after this one will be imprinted within my memory. I will not forget with each repeat but will be fully aware," Lilianna's eyes narrowed. _If Jace were to find out what this spell is then he would most definitely cast it on himself. That could prove problematic._ "However I could definitely use something like this." _I am wary of the fact that it will be a random loop. If it isn't a nearby one then I could change._ She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down everything that had happened in the current loop before casting the spell.

 _Whoa. Alright. This is my room._ Lilianna looked around in confusion. She noticed the paper. Written in her handwriting was a note. The note explained what she had done and what had happened over the course of this loop and what the spell would do for her in the future. She nodded, "Alright." _To think there are many different versions of myself. I'm playing older sister/mother figure to **two** kids? Well. That shouldn't be hard. _ She stretched, "Now I just have to come up with something to tell the kid."

Jace gritted his teeth angrily, "That's not cool."

Chandra cocked her head to the side, "Wait a minute..."

Jace glanced at her in surprise, "Huh?"

Chandra was thinking deeply. Her eyes were narrowed almost angrily.

"Uh...Chandra…?" Jace asked nervously.

"Nothing," she shook her head, "Just thinking on shredding someone once this is over."

"Who? Out of curiosity."

"Lilianna."

"Why?"

"For playing ignorant," Chandra shrugged, "Let's continue."

"Okay?" Jace said slowly.


	16. Chapter 16

Orriyon opened her eyes.

"Wow. She's kind of adorable," a black haired girl with bright emerald green eyes smiled at her. She turned, "Jace!"

"What?" Jace walked up unenthusiastically.

"She's your sister too," the girl snapped.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't know I had to fawn over her," Jace turned away.

"C'mon," the boy sighed. He had short black hair and amethyst eyes. He turned to Jace, "She is kind of cute."

"I don't understand how she can be our sister when she's _blond_ ," Jace snapped.

"Jace, welcome your sister," their cousin- _No. Mother. She's their-My mother. She's my mother_ -insisted.

Jace glared at the brown haired woman mutinously, "Fine." He walked up to her and looked at her dully, "She's blond. How-"

"Genetics," Vadanya suggested impatiently, "Just because we all look similar does not mean that we cannot have a gene for blond hair in our DNA somewhere."

"Alright. You don't have to bite my head off," Jace rolled his eyes. He turned and walked away.

Orriyon watched him go sullenly.

As the three of them got older Jace drifted farther and farther away. He became more defiant and sneakier.

Orriyon walked up to him, "Hi."

"What?" Jace asked. He was careful to keep his voice neutral to avoid Vadanya's rage.

"Well. Nothing really. I just wanted to say hi."

"Oh," Jace shrugged.

"Jace. Are you skipping out again?"

"It's not like I asked to be taught how to use weapons!" Jace snapped.

Vadanya slammed her fists into the table, "Then you're a liability. We can't baby you all the time."

"What's going on?!" Jordyn appeared out of nowhere.

"I don't remember asking to be babied!" Jace ignored Jordyn.

Orriyon's eyes widened and she stared at the two arguing siblings. The argument escalated violently. Her eyes narrowed, "STOP IT!"

Vadanya stopped and stared at her. Jace glanced at her before looking away. Orriyon glared at them, "Stop. There's no point to this. You already know Jace isn't going to do anything but sulk. He's never picked up a weapon in his life." She turned to Jace, "You know Vadanya's just doing as Mother asked. It's not her fault that you're in this situation."

Jordyn whistled softly.

Vadanya lowered her head and her fists. One of them was set to hit Jace, probably in the face.

Jace stalked out of the house.

 _Why doesn't Mother care?_ Orriyon walked up the stairs. "Mother."

"Were they arguing again?"

"Yes."

The woman sighed, "I swear. I'm not cut out for looking after these kids. Thank you, Orriyon for being mellow."

"Of course," Orriyon nodded. She walked into her room. Jordyn and Vadanya were gone. Jace was sitting outside by himself. She nodded to herself and went out to talk to him, "Jace."

"What?" he didn't turn to look at her at all.

"Have you ever thought about the future? What it might hold for you?" Orriyon sat down next to him.

"Why should I? I'll probably die before I get anywhere. If Vadanya doesn't kill me then the someone else will."

"C'mon. It's not that bad is it? I mean the only reason Vadanya gets so mad is because she cares."

"I highly doubt that," Jace got to his feet.

Orriyon sighed, "That doesn't mean it isn't true."

"Whatever," Jace got to his feet and looked into the distance. His gaze was hard and cold, "Hey. Orriyon."

"Yes?" Orriyon looked at him.

"What if..." Jace stopped. He swallowed, "What if you found out someone you cared about had dabbled in something forbidden?"

"I wouldn't care," Orriyon said evenly, "If I cared about the person then it wouldn't matter what they've done." She looked at him, "Why do you ask?"

Jace turned away from her and started to walk away, "No reason really."

Orriyon's eyes widened and turned white.

" _What was that for?!" Jace glared angrily at Vadanya. The girl leaped at him blade first. He managed to get out of the way before she reached him._

" _Vadanya! What are you doing?!" Jordyn stared at his sister._

 _Vadanya attacked again. Jace dodged but she was closer to hitting him this time. Jordyn grabbed Jace and pulled him back away from their sister before he got hit, "What are you doing?!"_

 _Vadanya got to her feet and met Jordyn's gaze evenly, "Proving a point."_

" _There's nothing to prove!" Jordyn insisted, "None of us should try and mold someone into something they're not!"_

" _It's fine," Jace said darkly. He got to his feet. His eyes were dark, almost purple. He glared at Vadanya before turning and walking away, "You guys can do what you like."_

" _Jace..." Jordyn sighed. He turned a hard gaze on Vadanya, "Mother may have entrusted him to you but that does not mean that you can do that."_

" _She entrusted him to me and he's done nothing," Vadanya said evenly. Though Jordyn was oldest Vadanya often filled the role more than he did. All three of her siblings knew she was the one that was really in charge. "He has to learn that there are consequences to every choice he makes."_

" _So you attack him out of nowhere?" Jordyn snapped._

 _Vadanya shrugged. She turned and walked away._

 _Jordyn shook his head, "Great."_

The image changed, seemingly rushing forward at dizzying speeds.

" _Jace?!" Vadanya stared at him, "You...taught yourself telepathy? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"_

 _Jace glared at her, "You wouldn't know! It's been forbidden for generations!"_

" _Guys-" Jordyn stopped. Jace's gaze held him in place. He couldn't move. Jace turned away from him and back to Vadanya, "Not everyone can learn weapons. It's best to do what you're good at."_

" _Jace being self taught is **bad** ," Vadanya insisted, "You can't possibly have full control over that magic."_

" _What the hell do you know?!" Jace hissed._

 _Vadanya's gaze hardened. She leaped forward._

 _Jace stopped her with a simple hand motion._

Again the image changed.

" _Are you alright?" Lilianna knelt down beside Jace and held out her hand. He pulled away from her. The confusion cleared from his gaze, "I'm fine." His voice was flat._

 _Lilianna cocked her head to the side, "Alright. Do you need anything?"_

" _No," Jace got unsteadily to his feet. His head spun and he was definitely more confused than he let on._

 _Lilianna nodded and got to her feet, "Come with me."_

 _Jace looked at her warily, "Why?"_

" _Because. I can help you with your abilities."_

 _His eyes widened, "You-You're serious?"_

 _Lilianna nodded, "Yes."_

 _He followed her._

Orriyon gasped and stared at him, "Jace wait!"

Jace turned to her in surprise, "What?"

Orriyon met his gaze, "Please don't be angry anymore."

Jace snorted, "You say that like it's an easy thing to do. Anger isn't a switch you can flip on and off."

"I know," Orriyon nodded, "But please."

Jace looked at her silently for a moment, "Sure."

"I mean it Jace," Orriyon said sternly.

Years passed. Orriyon went to Sun's Reprieve after Jace's spark ignited. She didn't know if her pleas had reached him at all but she felt she understood him better. It wasn't that he was a bad person. He was just someone that was stuck in bad circumstances, repeated over and over again. This time the castle floated in Ravnica's sky. The city-plane was a constant target for Bolas. He's sent his minions to this plane in every loop. If Ravnica was successfully overrun then Ugin would repeat the loop immediately. However if the plane was not then he would wait longer. Orriyon had the unnerving feeling that something was different this time. Something was off.

"It's too quiet," Gideon said.

Sorin shrugged.

"It is quiet," Elspeth nodded, "That…might be a good thing." She sounded uncertain which didn't make her words reassuring.

"Something's different," Orriyon said. _It's almost like Bolas has a larger plan. A plan to…_ "Take advantage of the loops."

"What?" Sorin and Elspeth looked at her at the same moment.

"It's like Bolas has a larger plan. A plan that would take advantage of the intended affects of the loops," Orriyon said quietly.

"How?" Elspeth shook her head, "There's no answer for that yet is there"

"No," Orriyon shook her head.

"Well then..." Jace's eyes were wide with shock, "Did I...accidentally..." He was having difficulty coming to grips with what had happened. It wasn't necessarily surprising but it was not something he'd have just pushed aside so he could continue on, for better or worse.

"That explains a lot though," Chandra whispered.

"I was accidentally responsible for the deaths of Vadanya and Jordyn?" Jace stared at her in shock. Suddenly his eyes widened. _Jordyn…_ "Is Jordyn friends with your brother?"

Chandra glanced at him, "Honestly I have no idea. I think so. I mean I met the two of them together so I'd assume that they were. I know they were last time."

"And Vadanya was the same girl that Lylly found on Regatha," Jace said evenly.

Chandra nodded.

Jace stared at her in surprise, "Are they still…?"

Chandra shrugged, "I would assume so. You've been family for every loop so far."

Jace continued to stare at her in shocked silence for a long moment before turning away quickly. _But I don't even know them this time. And who is Orriyon? I know what she looks like but I have no memories of seeing her in my life._ "Who's Orriyon? She's an Esper. I remember you saying that Espers faded away once their duties were completed. Did she fade away or did she exist at all?"

"She died," Chandra shrugged, "and then faded away. Back into her Original."

Jace nodded, "Alright."

Orriyon walked calmly into the flaming building. She knew she didn't have the power to take on either of the two planeswalkers Bolas had sent to deal with the city-plane. The fact that he had only sent two to take down the entire plane said a lot about their relative power level. A quarter of the plane was a raging fire. She climbed calmly up the crumbling stairs.

"C'mon Gideon! Don't be mean!" Orriyon recognized the redheaded fire mage by her voice. However the pyromancer was not what she was here for. She entered the room as Gideon sliced through a fireball with his sural.

"Orriyon? What are you doing here?! We told you to stay at Sun's Reprieve!" Gideon stared at her.

The pyromancer looked at her curiously, "Aren't you a little...small to be playing in these games?"

Orriyon looked directly at the redhead, "I know you're here Jace." She paused for a moment, "Why are you here? Why do you play along with his games? With their games?"

"Why do you?" Chandra turned the question back at her.

"Because you do," Orriyon said simply.

"What do you mean?" Chandra asked.

"We are here because you are here. We are here to defend the collateral damage that is caused by his orders. We are here because we have something worth protecting. Do you not have something you want to protect? Something you want to defend?" She looked at Chandra, "You claim independence because he doesn't care what you do. Yet you follow his every order no matter if you agree with it."

Chandra gritted her teeth angrily. Her eyes burned. Jace stepped between her and Orriyon. "Let's go. Ugin can repeat this loop and everyone can start over," he directed the comment to Chandra.

The redhead glanced from him to Orriyon to Gideon and back again, "Fine."

"It takes more than just one chance for the heart to change," Orriyon said evenly, "Don't give up just because it's hard." She turned and saw Tezzeret approaching.

"You two traitorous rats."

Jace and Chandra turned to him.

Gideon glared at him, "Leave Tezzeret."

"I think I'll take a trophy with me first," Tezzeret sneered.

"Tezzeret," Orriyon said quietly, "What trophy?"

"I haven't decided yet," he snickered. Suddenly no one in the room could move, not even Jace. He smirked, "Sorry. It's a little trap I had set up in case this little brat started running her mouth." An artifact creature with blades for hands plunged one of it's blades into Orriyon's chest. Tezzeret sneered, "I look forward to seeing you two again." He planeswalked and the spell fell. Orriyon collapsed.

"Repeat," Ugin's voice echoed all across the multiverse and everything stopped moving. It was like rewinding a video. Everything rewrote itself.


	17. Chapter 17

"Areu. Begin the Deity Projects."

"Beginning with?"

"Zeus and Hera," Bolas ordered.

Areu nodded, "Of course. How many more loops do you suppose it will take for them to be put to use?"

"Quite a few," Bolas said. _According to the little blond girl Ugin created I'm set to lose all of my minions by the end of this. Except for Areu because none of them know of his existence. So far I have lost one. The redhead. No surprise there. I didn't expect to keep her for very long. Of course now she's an assassin that is proficient in the use of a very ugly poison. That just means I'll have to be more careful. Now._ "Areu."

"Yes Sir."

"I would like you to prepare for the Athena Project. However. I do not want you to put it into motion yet. Wait until I tell you to begin."

"Of course," Areu nodded.

 _Take a small piece of the redhead's creative mind and give him a piece of myself so that he is entirely loyal to me._ Bolas folded his wings against his back ins satisfaction. _And I have the perfect pawn. Using two Originals for one Esper does make for interesting characters. I think it's about time I set Lilianna loose. After all I do want to play along with the girl's predictions. There's no point in fighting it if I get exactly what I want._

"So it was Bolas that started the whole thing?!" Chandra's eyes widened. She figured he'd had a hand in it given his situation with Jace. She didn't pause to think that maybe there were others beyond the Athena project and Hades."

"There's at least two more then," Jace said quietly, "That's disturbing. And Areu is your Esper."

Chandra glanced at him and then looked at the image in front of them, "He...is..."

Jace sighed, "You're very selective in the things you pay attention to."

"Shut up." _So I do have at least one Esper. Except he's completely loyal to Bolas. Great._

Orriyon stared at the sky. The moon was full and the sky was clear. _Vadanya's a planeswalker. And who's the new pink haired boy I keep seeing? And there's a brown haired girl too. They're...like me._ Orriyon shook her head, "This is getting dangerous." She lowered her head ans studied the ground, "The dragons are literally pulling people apart." _And Bolas. He's so...distant suddenly. It's no longer an upfront war. It's a war of attrition. Bolas and Ugin are no longer truly present. Half of the time they don't even know they're serving a dragon anymore._ "It's not fair. It gives everyone the illusion of having the freedom to make their own choices when in reality they're all being manipulated."

"We know it's not fair but to correct that error would be catastrophic," Elspeth said evenly.

"I know," Orriyon lifted her head again, "It's almost time. Lilianna will be born soon."

Elspeth nodded, "Yes. She will."

"Do you think it was right to separate Jace from his family?" Orriyon stared at the moon, "I mean...he'll never know them."

Elspeth followed Orriyon's gaze, "It's only temporary."

"Until he gains his perceived freedom?" Orriyon asked sullenly.

Elspeth nodded gravely, "Yes." She looked at her, "Do you wish you didn't know the nature of your existence?"

"I think anyone in my situation would," Orriyon turned to Elspeth with a sad smile. She held up a chain. It was easily longer than either of them were tall. The links were all different colors. No one shade was exactly the same as the last. "Every color represents every version of them I've ever had the honor of meeting," she explained, "Even if I fade away this will stay now that you know of it. It's no longer connected to just me." Orriyon lifted her head, "When I fade away I want you to keep it."

Elspeth stared at her for a moment. She smiled and nodded, "Of course." _So she has connected to all of them, even if they were her enemies she still wished to have something to remember them by._ She took part of the chain in her hand and let it fall through her grip. There were multiple shades or red, blue, purple, gold, a color for each and every person involved in this conflict.

"I wish I didn't have to go. I know I'm being selfish by wishing that but I've meet so many people. I've watched you all grow and change and become better people," Orriyon looked at Elspeth uncertainly, "Is it really selfish of me to want to continue to be able to watch you grow and change?"

"Never," Elspeth shook her head, "That's not selfish at all."

Orriyon seemed relieved, "Okay."

"Are you going to continue adding links to it?" Elspeth asked curiously.

Orriyon nodded, "Yes. One for everyone every time."

Elspeth nodded, "And if someone new joins the fight?"

Orriyon smiled, "Them too."

"Even if they're an enemy?" Elspeth asked.

Orriyon nodded, "I'm not leaving anyone out."

"And what about you?" Elspeth asked.

Orriyon shrugged and lowered her head, "The chain will end up in pieces. My links will fade away and it'll break."

"Does it hurt you to watch them break over and over and over again?" Elspeth asked.

"Of course. I think it hurts all of us," Orriyon nodded, "But...I know it'll get better. The future is like a very dark very long tunnel but at the end is a light. That light is like a happy ending. Finally everyone will get the peace that they deserve and everything will be okay."

"How much longer is that tunnel?"

"It's very very long," Orriyon turned back to the moon.

"Oh," Elspeth looked at the moon as well.

"This might take it's toll on you Elspeth. Please don't let these loops drag you down in the ones to come. Things _will_ get better."

Elspeth nodded, "I'll do my very best."

Chandra cocked her head to the side, "I don't think I've ever seen her chain before. Wow. Just how old _is_ Elspeth?"

Jace shrugged, "Haven't I asked that already? Let's just keep watching."

"You don't seem interested in watching anymore," Chandra looked at him. She was starting to get worried. He looked very distant. He'd obviously retreated into his own head long ago.

"It's fine. Let's get this over with," he snapped.

Chandra's eyes narrowed, "Fine."

"No. Why would I want to help you?" Chandra crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly. She glanced at Gideon, "What are you fighting again?"

"A dragon," Gideon said dryly. He glanced at Elspeth. _I knew she'd say no._

Elspeth stepped forward, "We are asking for your assistance. Not your servitude."

Chandra cocked her head to the side, "So...I get to call my own shots. You aren't going to spend your time trying to order me around?"

Elspeth nodded, "Yes."

Gideon nodded, "Of course."

Chandra studied him through narrowed eyes, "I don't believe you." She turned to Elspeth, "You're sure?"

Elspeth nodded, ignoring Gideon's indignant expression.

"Maybe. I'll think about it," Chandra turned away, "Now if you don't mind I'm busy."

"With what?" Gideon asked curiously.

Chandra glanced at him, "Well I was going to take a nap before you two came stomping all over it."

Elspeth shook her head, "We'll leave you then."

"We'll be at Sun's Reprieve should you choose to help," Gideon added.

"Sun's Reprieve?" Chandra flopped onto the ground and looked up at them, "Where is that?"

"It's a castle," Elspeth explained patiently, "It'll be floating in the sky of Zendikar."

Chandra raised an eyebrow, "Alright. Cool." _As if there isn't enough floating in the sky of Zendikar._ She watched the two walk away.

"What did those two want?" A pink haired man a few years older than her knelt down next to her.

"They wanted my help," she shrugged and shoved him back, "Go away Jarvis. I need to nap!"

"Are you going to help?" Jarvis asked as he fell backwards into a sitting position.

Chandra shrugged, "Don't know yet. Gideon's a bit...annoying. Besides I have other things I have to do."

"C'mon. I'm sure the Lotus won't mind. You're only a pseudo member anyway," Jarvis pointed out.

"Shut up. Let me have my excuses dammit."

"They're just excuses anyway," Jarvis got to his feet and stretched, "Where are they?"

"Zendikar," Chandra said.

He whistled softly, "You'll want to tell Mom and Dad you'll be out for a while."

"I never said I was agreeing!" Chandra snapped angrily.

"You know you will. You'll somehow find a way to get yourself dragged into this mess so you might as well just tell them you agree to help right off the top," Jarvis shrugged.

Chandra rolled her eyes, "Jeez. Fine." She got to her feet and rolled her eyes. _So much for a freaking nap. Jeez._ She stomped up away from the riverbank to the city.

Jarvis watched her leave almost sadly, "The best thing about life is that people will remember what you've done. Whether you've touched them in a positive or negative way they will remember. Make people remember you as something more than the stories that they tell about Phoenix, Sis." He got to his feet and stared at the river. _He let's us know what we are and our inevitably fate. Orriyon and I have one job. To look after the people that were used to create us. And when we aren't needed anymore we'll fade away like we never existed in the first place._ His gaze hardened, "I can still leave my mark." He turned and followed Chandra back to the city.

Jace watched Chandra stiffen. He could probably poke her and she wouldn't even twitch. She stood stone still for many moments before forcing herself to relax. Jace sighed. _That's one more thing she has against the dragon._ He looked at the still image in front of them. _She thought Jarvis was her brother. Everyone thought Jarvis was her brother. That's not fair._ "This is just another thing you'll hold against Ugin isn't it?"

Chandra glanced at him, "I'm just tired of cleaning up their messes."

Jace looked at her, "But you'll hold this against him. Jarvis is your brother." He knew how Chandra was about those that were close to her. She'd do anything in her power to protect them, from themselves, from each other, and from anything that might hurt them.

Chandra shrugged, "I will but even so." She looked at him, "I'm the one that has a problem with Ugin. You guys don't-"

"We all have a problem with Ugin," Jace said evenly, "I thought you said that we were family now. Isn't one person's battle everyone's battle now?"

Chandra smiled, "Yeah."

"Then why would you doubt whether or not we'd help you?" Jace snapped. He sighed, "Ugin's not...bad. For him any sacrifice is small when compared to the fate of the multiverse."

Chandra nodded, "Even so. Not everyone sees it that way."

"It seems no one sees it that way," Jace looked at the image of Jarvis that was in front of them. The pink haired man looked unbearably sad. He looked as though the weight of every world sat on his shoulders and his alone. Orriyon always wore the same look. _It would've been more fair if they didn't know. But Ugin sees that as cruel. He doesn't want their fate to be a surprise to them. But both of them have chosen to keep it a secret for the betterment of those around them._ "Hey."

"Hm?"

"Do you think...Elspeth will be able to give them another chance?" Jace looked at her, "I mean Jenny said that she could resurrect the dead."

Chandra shrugged, "We could ask. But for now we'll have to deal with the unknown."

Jace nodded.


	18. Chapter 18

"Huh?!" Chandra stared at Elspeth like she'd lost her mind, "A telepath?!" _Oh great. You better keep your mouth shut._

 _Of course. I wouldn't share your secrets._ His bright sapphire eyes studied the group calmly.

"Elspeth," Gideon said warily, "Are you sure?"

Elspeth nodded, "Of course I'm sure."

Orriyon walked up to him, "Do you promise that you will do what you can to protect and aid the other members of this group?"

Jace looked down at her curiously, "Sure."

"Do you promise?" Orriyon repeated insistently.

Jace glanced at Elspeth who nodded. He swallowed, "Yes."

"Good," Orriyon turned to Gideon confidently, "There's nothing to worry about. Not even he will break his word."

Jace rolled his eyes, "Thanks."

Orriyon nodded, "You're welcome."

Chandra flopped into her chair, "Great. So now we have the telepath, that was our enemy three weeks ago on our side. So...what happens now?"

"Well if he has any valuable information then we can use it," Nissa shrugged.

Chandra looked at him expectantly. _Remember. You promised me you wouldn't say a word about Phoenix._

 _I remember._ "Well...I don't really know much honestly," Jace shrugged.

"O...kay," Gideon sighed, "What do you know?"

"Well. It feels as though I'm being interrogated and held prisoner," Jace smirked, "But that's not what you want to hear. Is it?"

Chandra gritted her teeth but remained silent.

"Lilianna is allowed to act of her own accord and Tezzeret is not there of his own choice. Though if he had to choose between you and Bolas he'd most likely still be in his current position," Jace shrugged, "There are a few planeswalkers with them but none of them are really powerful enough to be worth naming off." He looked at Gideon and Chandra, "You two and Elspeth could probably take on every one single handed and win." He looked at Nissa, "You might be able to do three."

Nissa snarled warningly.

Bolas sighed. _There goes the telepath._ "This is turning out to be quite interesting. Areu."

"Sir?"

"What would happen if I were to make another Esper from the pyromancer?" Bolas already knew the answer to the question. When the Espers reintegrated with her spark it would most likely cause her to go insane. Unlike the telepath Ugin did not create an artifact that would be able to hold the extra power for her and transfer it to her in small bits because he only knew of the single Esper he had created. One Esper was not nearly as dangerous as two or three.

"The girl would more than likely go insane were the three to be reincorporated especially if they were within a short period of each other," Areu answered.

Bolas nodded, "Good. Good. Find me an isolated world. One where I could hide a...little secret."

"Of course," Areu left with a nod.

 _Let's have a little bit of fun Ugin. Let's see how long it will take for your children to break. It seems the angel has already broken. I am not surprised given the burden that she bears. I'm sure the pyromancer will be difficult. Jace won't be hard, being sensitive to emotional trauma as he is. Maybe see how far he can go before shattering completely? C'mon Ugin. I'm getting bored doing this over and over. Your little oracle has never been wrong right? She already knows how she is going to die. She knows how all of individual loops will end. She also knows when and how the entire cycle will end. Let's not drag this out much longer._ "I guess it won't hurt to have a little fun here and there." _I wonder how long it will take to break Gideon. How much of a burden must he bear before falling? Will that burden stack up over the course of the loops or will it clear and begin anew with every one?_ "Let's not drag this on much longer. The multiverse itself will break if we keep this up, Ugin."

Chandra stared at him, "A THIRD ONE?"

Jace sighed, "It would explain where all your explosive power has gone."

Chandra glanced at him, "It would."

"Tina. I need you to come here. Now. It's important."

"That's all the voicemail says?" Jenny whined.

Tina nodded, "So I'm gonna go see what she wants."

Jenny sighed, "Have fun!"

Tina nodded, "I'll try."

"Where is Harmony anyway?" Jenny asked curiously.

Tina glanced at her, "Seattle."

"Still?!" Jenny squeaked.

Tina nodded, "Alright. It'll be a few hours long."

"Tell me all about it when you get back," Jenny demanded.

"I will," Tina nodded.

Jenny put herself between her friend and the airport entrance, "You promise?"

Tina nodded, "I promise."

Jenny nodded, "Good. Bye!" She skipped away happily.

Tina glanced at her phone nervously. She swallowed and walked into the airport, "Ticket to Seattle please."

"Sure."

She gave them her Black Lotus money card and waited impatiently for her ticket. Her flight was in an hour. She sat in the waiting area and replayed the message again and again and again. The tone of the girl she was meeting worried her. They'd been friends before but since Tina had moved to Elendeth they'd talked less and less often. Tina didn't doubt that they were still friends but more and more often Harmony only called when something important came up. _Or if she wants the password for Echo's Archives._ She shook her head. _Meaning it has to be really important. If it wasn't she wouldn't call and say it was important._ Tina swallowed.

Finally the hour passed. She climbed onto the plane. The ride to Seattle Airport blurred past her.

"Tina. Come with me," Harmony grabbed her and pulled her through the airport to a car that was sitting in the parking lot.

"Harmony," Tina sighed and followed her into the car, "What's up?"

"Not here," Harmony shook her head. She looked at her, "Also...it involves you. And your lost memories."

"My lost memories?!" Tina stuttered.

Harmony nodded, "I looked into the different Deity Projects. Their archives and the creator's personal journal."

Tina stared at her.

Harmony started the car and drove towards her house as she continued, "The creator's journal said had in depth information on Espers and the different facilities that were used. There's a facility near Canada that has been attempting to create an Esper by breaking the spark technologically."

"Hold on. What exactly is an Esper?" Tina said.

Harmony sighed, "An Esper is an incomplete being. They're created by breaking a piece off of a planeswalker's spark. So far only entities like the dragons from before Rheah's time can create one. There's only two of those left." Harmony looked at her friend darkly, "I have a video for you once we get to my place.

Chandra swallowed nervously as the images continued to spin around. Suddenly everything came to a jarring halt. Bolas was in front of her. Standing in front of him was Tina.

Jace felt cold anger grip him. He'd figured Tina was the third one. Every Esper was similar to it's original. The similarities in their personalities was hard to miss. Even so he couldn't help but be angry. Tina was Chandra's friend at least. And she didn't really deserve to lose the only other person that had been entrusted to her. Dove was already dead. She could be brought back but that depended on Elspeth and whether or not she needed mana to bring her back. Jace sighed. _Why is life so unfair? I know that if life was fair it wouldn't be fair but this is beyond unfair. None of us did anything to deserve this. To Bolas we are toys. To Ugin we are tools, assistants at best._

"Why? What's in it for me?"

Bolas narrowed his eyes. _This one is difficult. I guess that's what happens when it's just the pyromancer that is the Original._ "Because, Saiemae, we did make a deal did we not?"

"We did," she nodded. Her green eyes glittered in annoyance, "I'm beginning to think you don't plan on following through on your part of the deal."

"Really? You don't trust me to stand by my word?" Bolas asked curiously. He leaned forward.

"No," Saiemae shook her head, "You're a dragon. All ego and planning and no real action."

Bolas growled softly, "Really?" He sighed, "Leave."

She bowed dramatically, "As you wish, Master." She turned on her heel and left.

Bolas turned, "Areu. Find her, clear her memories completely, and stick her somewhere where she can be of some use."

Areu nodded, "Out of curiosity, Sir. Was she too similar to the pyromancer?"

"Yes," Bolas nodded. _She had all the attitude without any of the more endearing qualities. She also seems to have inherited little of the pyromancer's skills unlike Areu or Jarvis. Interesting. I might have to experiment with different original combinations in the future. Of course all theoretical at first. I might do a couple more if I like the simulation results of the combination._ "I wouldn't want to kill them all off before they can do their jobs after all." _What would it be like to combine a normal mage with a planeswalker? I guess I'll have to wait and see._

Tina felt sick, "I-I..."

Harmony caught her as she almost collapsed.

Tina looked at her desperately, "What happens to an Esper?"

Harmony pulled up a document, "Do you want to read it or do you want me to?"

"I'll read it," Tina got to her feet and read through the document. It was a short journal entry.

 _Espers. The closest we have ever gotten to creating a planeswalker of our own. However since they are only pieces their existences are short lived. They are given a purpose at creation and once that purpose is fulfilled they disappear as if they never existed in the first place. Sadly we have yet to find a way to fix that little error._

Tina couldn't read anymore. There were two more paragraphs of the document but she couldn't read it anymore. She sat on the ground and stared at nothing. Her thoughts whirled but none actually formed a coherent thought.

"I'm sorry," Harmony shook her head, "Maybe I shouldn't have told you."

Tina shook her head, "It's better to know this now instead of fading away without any explanation."

"Alright. Will you be okay?" Harmony asked worriedly.

Tina nodded, "Yeah." She got to her foot and cleared her face, "Is that all you wanted?"

Harmony nodded, "That and the password."

Tina gave her a flat look, "Harmony. Echo will destroy me."

"Alright. Alright," Harmony chuckled, "Head on back to Elendeth."

Tina nodded.


	19. Chapter 19

Chandra wandered through the forest warily. It was night and many of the dangerous nocturnal creatures of this world would be active. She slid around a bush silently.

"Chandra Nalaar."

She turned and her hand lit on fire, serving as a light in the darkness. Behind her stood a man shrouded in shadow. He held a staff or lance in his right hand. She couldn't quite identify if it was one or the other, "What do you want?"

"I have something for you," he held out a scroll case. His voice was deep and filled with purpose, "But it comes with a warning. It's a spell that can swap out your memories for another person's. It you do use it you will be very confused at first so only use it if you truly believe that it will help you."

Chandra's eyes narrowed distrustfully, "Really? And who sent you with it?"

"An old friend," he said vaguely. He placed the scroll in her hand and disappeared.

Chandra sighed and continued through the forest. Eventually she found what she was looking for. A fairly large baloth rose before her. It looked down at her with beady hungry eyes. Her own eyes narrowed, "Well. Let's play." Her right hand lit on fire. The creature leaped forward. Chandra met it halfway with a fireball. The creature's body burned. She wrapped her hand in flames and punched it's teeth. With a quick spin she had a hidden blade embedded in the top of it's mouth. The tip could be seen through the top of the creature's head. She used the blade to slice off it's head and lit the rest of it on fire. Dragging it back to the village that had hired her to kill the beast took the rest of the night. "You wanted it's head?"

"Oh thank you so much!" the village elder said gratefully, "And as promised here is your reward."

"Thanks," Chandra nodded, "Don't be afraid to have someone put in a request in that inn in town I told you about if you need my help again alright?"

"Thank you so much," the elder nodded.

Chandra left the village and wandered back to town.

"How'd it go?"

"The thing was easy, Shadow," Chandra complained.

"What's with the scroll?"

"Just a little something I picked up on my way here from the village," she shrugged. She sighed, "Please tell me Gideon hasn't stopped by yet."

"Nope," Shadow shook her head.

"Alright." Chandra left. She planeswalked away just before the door out to the streets. Ravnica materialized in front of her.

"There you are," Kaechia said worriedly, "Where did you disappear to?"

"Another job," Chandra shrugged. She yawned and stretched, "So. Is Gideon still with the Boros?"

"Why wouldn't he be?" Kaechia asked.

"Just asking."

"Chandra, the coin purse. Who's is it?"

"Huh?" She quickly hid her hands behind her back, "No one's."

"Where'd you get it?"

Chandra sighed and rolled her eyes, "Nothing gets past you guys. So I hijacked it from a snobby passerby on Regatha. So what?"

"Which city?"

"Z-something," Chandra shrugged, "I don't know."

"It wasn't anyone in the Order of Heliud was it?" Kaechia asked.

"I didn't look," Chandra shrugged again.

"You do realize that if it was Gideon will know in an instant?"

Chandra shrugged, "So? He'll just lecture me like always."

Kaechia sighed, "Well," she put her hands on her hips and studied her friend, "At least we can tell Gideon I tried right?"

Chandra smirked, "Right." She held out the scroll, "Do you know what this is?"

Kaechia shook her head, "I'm sure I can have the Azorius take a look."

"But then I'll have to steal it to get it back from them," Chandra whined.

"That's nothing you haven't done before," Kaechia said with a raised eyebrow.

Chandra shrugged, "I guess. I'll be off...blackmailing somebody if you need me."

"Really?"

Chandra nodded, "Yep." She skipped out of the alley and down the street.

Kaechia sighed, "Alright. Fine."

Chandra sighed as images stopped and then faded away, "Is that it? That wasn't much."

"Did you see how much it blurred past?" Jace muttered. _Finally. It's done._ "I'm taking a nap when we get back."

"Did we even leave?"

"Mentally," Jace shrugged. He watched everything around them fade to black. Chandra disappeared as well.

"Cat Ears?"

Jace ignored him and curled up under his blanket with his back turned to him.

"What's wrong?" Ral asked.

"Nothing."

"Alright Cat Ears," Ral didn't sound like he believed him but Jace didn't care. _This isn't fair. In the previous loops at least I thought I had a mother. What did Elspeth mean when she said she was responsible for their mother's death?_ Jace sighed. _I can't even really believe we're related. I don't know any of them._ He opened his eyes and stared at the wall, "Hey Ral."

"Yeah?"

"Why is life so complicated? Even when life is good it's still complicated."

"I have no idea Cat Ears," Ral shrugged, "Honestly I think the reason your life is so complicated is you spend too much time in your own head."

Jace fell silent. _"I know who your parents are."_ His eyes widened. _She did._

The faerie looked up as the door to her shop opened, "It's quite late for you to be out and about little one."

"Shut up," Jace snapped.

"As rude as ever I see," she glanced at him. His eyes were not covered this time. They were hard and almost angry.

"You said you knew my parents."

"I also said it'd be best if you found out for yourself," she shrugged.

"Who are they?" Jace demanded.

She sighed, "I said it'd be best if you found out on your own."

"This is me finding out on my own," Jace hissed.

"You're easily irritated aren't you?" the faerie shook her head, "Not telling."

"Why not?"

"I've already told you."

"And I've told you that this is me finding out for myself!"

"Then find out from somebody else," she shrugged.

"But you've already told me you knowthem."

"Find somebody else."

"Why can't you tell me?!"

"Because I have a promise to keep," the faerie's silvery eyes bored into him intensely.

Jace stepped back in surprise, "You..."

"I have a promise to keep. Now if that's a problem for you then you can try to pick my brain apart. You won't get far though," she turned away from him, "And do you really need to know? You have a family. There's no point in focusing on trying to find the family you never knew. Family isn't always about blood. It's about the people that pick you up and help you become the best person you can be." She disappeared into the back of the store.

Jace gritted his teeth. He stalked out of the store and wandered through the streets. The night was cold. It was after all still winter. Or close enough. Colorado was weird like that. He looked up at the clear night sky, "Maybe it doesn't matter but is wanting to know somehow wrong?"


	20. Chapter 20

"Operation make Cat Ears smile!" Ral grinned.

"How exactly?" Kyle asked, "It seems like no matter what we do he's just annoyed."

"Maybe Jenny," Michael suggested.

"Or Emalia," Tina added dryly. She looked around, "And uh...why am _I_ here?"

"You helped us out with the zoo," David shrugged.

"That doesn't mean I'll help you out again," Tina snapped.

Rick shrugged, "That's a question that's better for Ral."

"C'mon guys. It has to be there somewhere."

"Don't you think he would've smiled by now?" Tina asked, "I mean how long have you guys been trying?"

Ral shrugged, "Cat Ears can be unbelievably stubborn."

"So you think he's just putting effort into not smiling?" Tina rolled her eyes, "Sure."

"I think it's more like a situation similar to Cain and the others," Rick said, "I mean they don't smile but they do engage with the rest of us and seem happy. They've had a better opportunity to lighten up and get used to feeling safe and happy. I don't think Jace has had that opportunity."

"So we're annoying the hell out of him in an attempt to make him more comfortable with being happy?" Tina still sounded skeptical.

"Exactly!" Ral nodded, "Well that's what we were doing. It didn't really work out so now we're trying to come up with something new!"

"One more thing," Tina looked around at their surroundings, "Why are we in the tunnels under the warehouse?"

"So no one can eavesdrop!" Ral said excitedly.

Rick shrugged, "So...what's the plan?"

"That's why you're here," Ral shrugged, "I don't have one."

"Well...I'm sure that if we got Jenny or Emalia in on this we'd never run out on ideas," Tina sighed.

"You get Jenny," Rick got to his feet and dusted himself off, "I'll get Emalia."

"BOTH?!" Tina cried. She shook her head, "That'd be utter chaos!"

"Emalia managed to get Cain to open up some. That's no easy task," Rick shrugged, "It should be fun."

Tina sulked as she walked through the tunnels back to the girls' dorm. She found Jenny in the room the two of them shared, "Hey. I've been sent to deliver you somewhere."

"But I won't fit in a box that would be shippable," Jenny giggled, "Where are we going? Oh! McDonald's?"

"No Jenny. Just follow me," Tina glanced at her, "Don't you hate McDonald's?"

"Yeah," Jenny shrugged. She skipped after Tina.

"Jenny!" Emalia met them halfway, "C'mon! Ral's getting impatient!"

"Let's go!" Jenny grabbed Tina's wrist and darted through the tunnels towards the warehouse.

"So. You have any ideas?" Kyle asked, looking at the two of them.

Jenny nodded, "Let's be a band!"

"Jenny. For the last time. No," Tina snapped.

Jenny looked at her happily, "But you never found out why I wanted to be a band."

Tina cocked her head to the side.

"We're listening," Michael said.

Jenny jumped up, "We can be a band because music makes people happier. We sing and we play instruments and we dance together and make everyone happy. Everyone will have the opportunity to forget everything that's making them depressed lately."

"For a little bit at least," Emalia added.

"So who's going to begin the band?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah. It won't be a thing unless you have a beginning group."

"Well," Jenny grinned, "Me. And Kamiya. And Debby and Emalia."

"Alright," David nodded.

Rick looked impressed, "Sounds legit."

Jenny nodded proudly, "Yes!"

"We don't know any of the instruments though..." Emalia shrugged, "We don't have a name either."

"And we don't have songs."

"Why not just do covers?" Kyle suggested.

"Covers..." Jenny grinned excitedly, "I didn't think about that!"

Tina rubbed her temples, "Jenny. As of this moment I am your manager."

Jenny leaped at her and clung to her, "REALLY?!"

Tina glared at her, "No! Get off me!"

Jenny pouted, "You're mean."

Tina rolled her eyes, "I'll be your manager but do _not_ do that again."

"Okay," Jenny said slowly. She grinned, "But anyway HI! You are our new manager!"

"And no Jenny. That means I'm not actually a part of the band," Tina added.

Jenny shook her head, "You don't have a choice."

"Then I'm not your manager."

"But you already sold your soul to me," Jenny said.

"I never signed any form of contract-"

"It would be easier to get Chandra involved if you were," Emalia pointed out.

Tina stopped and glared at them both, "I'm not doing it!"

"Why not?" Jenny whined.

"I can't sing."

"But you can learn to. And you can learn to play an instrument!"

Emalia nodded, "I'll go tell Debby and Kamiya that they were drafted into being a part of our band."

"I can teach you guys guitar," Rick offered.

"YES!" Jenny turned her attention away from Tina.

Tina tried to take the opportunity to slip away but Jenny used a quick spell to quicken her speed and stood between the assassin and her only exit, "You are officially inducted int the band…uh...What are we called?"

"I am only a part of this if I am the manager!"

"You are," Jenny nodded, "You also get to sing and dance and everything else!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes! You need to have a chance to try it too!" Jenny insisted.

Tina growled, "Fine. I will officially agree to sing and dance once Chandra does."

Jenny nodded, "Alright! We'll go get her then."

"What's up?" Chandra asked curiously when they finally found her in the girls' dorm common room.

"We're gonna be a band!" Jenny said excitedly.

Chandra raised an eyebrow. _I hope this isn't going where I think it is._

"You wanna be a part of it?" Jenny asked.

Chandra shook her head, "Not really. Sorry."

"Didn't you play harp once upon a time?" Tina asked through narrowed eyes.

"Me? NO way!" Chandra shook her head quickly.

Tina's eyes narrowed, "Don't even lie. I know you did."

"I'm not lying. And even if I did I don't see how I could have any patience to be any good at it!" Chandra snapped, "See ya!" She darted away.

Jenny giggled, "Harp huh?"

"Yeah. She dabbled in harp. I don't know if she sounded any good," Tina shrugged.

"We could all learn to play instruments…It'll be loads of fun!" Jenny darted out of the dorm building and looked around, "Where would she have gone?"

Tina shrugged, "I don't know."

Jenny scoured the entire school building trying to find the surprisingly elusive redhead.

"Jenny. Class has already started. What are you doing?" Mrs. Hills asked.

Jenny looked around, "Is Chandra here?"

"She's not in this class," the teacher shook her head, "She was in last class."

Jenny pouted, "Alright!" She darted down the hall. She checked every single classroom until she finally found Chandra. She hovered in the doorway until the teacher noticed her.

"Jenny. What do you need?" Mr. Spencer asked.

Jenny looked at Chandra, "Chandra!"

Mr. Spencer glanced at her.

Chandra shook her head, "It's fine. Keep teaching."

He cocked his head to the side before shaking it. He didn't bother continuing to teach though.

Jenny growled and darted towards the redhead. Chandra tipped her chair back and rolled as it fell backwards. She darted out the door of the classroom and down the hall. Jenny darted after her, hollering at the top of her lungs.


	21. Chapter 21

Jace sighed, "What do you want?"

"I'm just saying hi!" Jenny skipped up to him, "You wanna be a part of our band?"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"I can't sing. I can't play an instrument. And I definitely can't dance," Jace said flatly.

"But you can learn!" Jenny said excitedly.

"I have no interest in learning though," Jace shrugged.

"C'mon!" Jenny cried.

"No." Jace turned away from her and started to walk away.

"Man! I had to chase Chandra down earlier and now I have to hunt you?!"

"Hunt me?" Jace glanced at her over his shoulder, "Why?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE JOINING MY BAND! YOU'RE NAME IS WRITTEN ON THIS PAPER!" Jenny screamed. She shoved a stack of papers attached to a clipboard in his face.

Jace's eyes widened in surprise and he stepped back, "But I didn't even write my name on that paper!" _Wait a minute. I know whose handwriting that is._ He growled softly, "Ral."

"Well your name is on the paper so you've got no choice!"

 _Why does this **always** happen?_ "Why do I never get a choice?"

"You won't put any effort into being happy on your own," Jenny said simply, "Now c'mon!" Jace slid sideways as Jenny went to grab his hand. He turned and raced out of the library, deftly maneuvering past Rick, Kyle, Michael and David. He darted towards the cafeteria.

"Dammit! Get Him!" Jenny howled.

 _What the hell's gotten into her? She's **terrifying**! Why? _ Jace picked up his pace. He could hear Jenny sprinting after him. She was followed by the four that had tried to catch him outside the library. _Why is me being in this band of hers so important?_ Jace scaled the wall of the cafeteria and crouched at the corner of two of the steel supports that held the lights of the room.

Jenny skidded to a stop directly underneath him and looked up at him. Her eyes glittered with a mixture of excitement and frustration, "Get down!"

"No," Jace responded firmly.

"Rick!"

"I'll break the ceiling," Rick said flatly.

Michael snickered.

Jenny pouted. "Hm. Well he does have to come down some time."

"Well there are multiple ways out of the cafeteria," Yuri said as he walked up to them. He glanced up at Jace, "Not all of them include getting down."

Jenny started to pace, "Hm." Suddenly she stopped, "I've got it!" She looked around, "Where's Emalia?"

Jace's eyes widened. _Emalia?_ "That's cheating!"

"It is not," Jenny insisted, "You're faster than any of us!"

Jace bit his lower lip as Yuri shrugged. _Emalia can go fast enough that she'll be able to get up here easy. I don't know how balanced she is though._

"We must find Emalia!" Jenny turned to Kyle, "You and David go find Emalia. The four of us will stay here and make sure Jace doesn't go anywhere."

Jace cursed under his breath.

"Four?" Rick asked, "It's just you, Michael and me now-"

"And Yuri," Jenny pointed to the blond pyro in front of them, "He's helping too."

"Wait. What?" Yuri glanced from her to Rick to Jace and back again, "I never-"

"YOU'RE HELPING! YOUR NAME IS ON THE PAPER!" Jenny paused to write his name on the paper before turning the clipboard so he could see it.

"You _just_ wrote my name on the paper," Yuri pointed out dully.

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER!" Jenny cried.

Yuri nodded quickly, "Alright. Cool."

Jace sighed, "Why's the paper so important?"

"If your name is on the paper then you are in my band," Jenny proclaimed proudly. She put her hands on her hips.

Yuri stared at her, "What? What band?"

"Our idol rock pop orchestra that has yet to have a name," Jenny said excitedly.

Jace took the opportunity to begin to slowly move along the thin steel bar away from them.

"STAY PUT!" Jenny pointed at him as she screamed at him.

Jace froze. _Damn._ He sat down on the bar and let his left leg swing. He glanced down periodically to see if Jenny stopped paying attention to him. _She can focus on multiple things at once. In this situation it would be keeping an eye on me, screaming at Yuri and keeping an eye out for Kyle, David and Emalia._ "This is annoying. Especially since it's not like it's going to get anywhere before Jenny gets bored." _And the fact that Chandra hasn't agreed to it should tell them something. She's usually down for anything. Besides, haven't any of them heard of something called different interests? Not everyone wants to sing. Not everyone wants to dance. Not everyone wants to be a performer of any kind. Being on stage can only be described as traumatizing. I have no wish to be in any form of spotlight._ Jace sighed and watched Jenny slowly convince Yuri to join her band. He didn't listen to anything she said but could tell that she was winning him over. _That's the thing. Listen to Jenny and anything can seem plausible. When half the time it's not. And half the time it's not even something one would really want to do but she managed to convince them to do it anyway. It's aggravating and annoying._

"Jenny. Your friends are here," Tina called from the cafeteria doorway.

"Which friends?" Jenny asked.

Jace rolled his eyes. _Only Jenny would have to ask that question._

"Caidence, Naomi, Onahime, Sakura, and someone named Apollo," Tina shrugged.

"I am unfamiliar with an Apollo," Jenny shrugged, "but I'm sure we'll be great friends!" She darted after Tina as she left the cafeteria.

Jace darted along the steel bar silently and dropped to the ground at the wall.

"Ha!" Emalia saw him and shot at him top speed.

Jace side stepped quickly and raced to the other side of the cafeteria. _Dammit! This is so annoying._ He zipped past Jenny and Tina as they were talking to the people Tina had named off.

A girl with magenta hair and yellow green eyes nodded to him respectfully as he passed while the one that stood next to her simply watched him.

Jace skidded to a stop and stepped out of Emalia's way. Though he had never seen either of them before something about them seemed familiar. He narrowed his eyes and studied them. Both had an aura of power similar to Leisa. He was reminded of Emalia's presence when her cry of triumph pulled him back to reality. He darted forward and ran back into the cafeteria, "Leave me alone!" _Who were those two? If they were similar to Leisa then they could've been...but that doesn't make sense. Last I checked there were only two others. Zeus and Hera. They were put in place by Bolas. All four projects were but...there was no malice in their auras. I would know._ Jace growled, "I'll have to look into it." He glanced over his shoulder. The green haired speed freak was still chasing him, making what sounded like goat noises.

"Can you stop?" Jace called over his shoulder.

"No! Join the band!" Emalia shrieked.

"No!" _Of course. There's no way Emalia would miss out on an idol rock pop orchestra or whatever it was._ Jace growled. He left the school building. The run across the courtyard was easy. He entered the boys' dorm through the window that led into the kitchen and shot up the stairs. _Crap. Ral's in on it. So much for my room._ He teleported into the ceiling. _Dammit. I am_ _ **not**_ _doing this band thing. They'll have to catch me. And that's going to be much easier said than done._


	22. Chapter 22

Chandra grabbed Jace and pulled him into the room. She shut the door silently and listened to Emalia go shooting right past the door. Jace glared at her momentarily before relaxing somewhat, "What's with Jenny?" he whispered.

Chandra shrugged, "I don't know. She got Tina in on it though."

"That's a problem," Jace hissed.

Chandra gave him a flat look.

"Alright. That much is obvious. Even so..." he cocked his head to the side, "Why are you fighting this so hard?"

Chandra paused for a moment, "Well. Being in a band definitely doesn't fit everyone's interests." She shrugged, "And I have no intention of singing and dancing or anything else for anyone."

Jace looked surprised but didn't question any further.

Chandra dared to open the door just a crack. She looked around the hallway very carefully before sliding out into it. She stayed low to the ground and tense, prepared to run for it should one of the people hunting them appear. The tension in the air was nearly unbearable as she slid up the stairs towards the library. She glanced over her shoulder. Jace was still with her surprisingly, continuously and nervously looking over his shoulder periodically. She stopped and pressed herself to the wall as voices echoed towards her.

"I lost him!" Emalia cried dramatically.

"Damn. What about Chandra?" Michael asked.

"No sign of her," Jenny responded.

Chandra grabbed Jace and darted back the way they'd come. _Not the library. Alright._

 _We could just run through the front door. We'll have to be outside of the school if we want to avoid them._

Chandra let go of Jace and dodged past Jack as he tried to catch her. She shot towards the door of the school building and out into the snow. She saw Jace shoot diagonally across the courtyard and over the wall with Emalia tearing after him. Chandra headed towards the mall. It would be a long walk but she'd be able to find a nice disguise there. _Red hair sticks out. Orange eyes stick out. The school uniform sticks out._ "I'm gonna need an entire wardrobe change." _And a couple few things from Echo. Like a teleporter and a cloaking device._ She hurried to the hotel, "I'm borrowing these."

"No. Phoenix," Echo reached after her as the redhead hurried out of the room.

"Phoenix was here?" Tina asked shortly.

Echo glanced at her, "Just left. Why?"

"The school's looking for her."

"Why?"

"She has refused to join Jenny's band so Jenny has devised a plan to get everyone to assist her in the capture and return of the assassin known as Crimson Phoenix," Rick recited robotically.

Echo raised an eyebrow, "How many more of you are here?"

"Two," Tina said. She motioned for them to come out of hiding with her hand. Lilianna rolled her eyes but got to her feet and walked up. Jade slid out of a small gap between a door across the hall and the wall and skipped up to them excitedly.

Echo nodded, "Alright."

Chandra quickly slid away. She couldn't help but laugh once she was out of earshot. _If they get the Lotus involved I'm so screwed. Well...maybe not. Maybe if I do this right._ She hurried through the snow towards the mall. She saw Onyx's van hovering near Melody's favorite ice cream shop and cursed. She'd have to cross that parking lot to get to the mall from where she was. _I would be surprised if someone didn't jump out at me._ She looked around. There was another way to the mall but it was longer and less direct. She cursed and slid around the ice cream shop.

"I can see her," Erin said from where he sat in the passenger's seat of the van.

"Good!" Jenny's voice rang through the phone loudly, "Where does it look like she's headed?"

"It looks like she's headed to the southeastern quadrant of the city," Onyx said resignedly.

"Alright! Emalia, Lisbeth, Caedrus and David should be in that area," Jenny said confidently.

"Should we call them?"

"Tina already has," Jenny said.

"Alright."

Jace slid silently off the roof of the van and disappeared around the corner of the shop. _So if Chandra's going to the southeast it'd be best if I went northwest._ He walked straight north for a few hours before heading west. _The feline parts of my appearance make me stick out._ He was near the airport. _I'd need a way to hide them…_

 _You could always wear a hat._ Tessa's voice echoed in his head. _And a long coat._

Jace cocked his head to the side. _I could._ The girl's presence disappeared from his mind as quickly as it had appeared. He cocked his head to the side. _What is Chandra doing? The southeastern part of the city is where most of the students at the school live._ He shrugged indifferently. _I'd have to pay_ _for them though._ He sighed and looked around. _I'd have to head south though. That's towards the school. Not something I'm doing._ His eyes widened, "I could do that..." He nodded to himself and raced out of the city. He remembered the family he'd stayed with on the farm just outside the city. Living just outside Elendeth they were just as used to odd occurrences as the citizens of Elendeth were.

"Jace!" Ruby stared at him with wide surprised eyes, "Hi."

"Hey. I did say I'd come back didn't I?" he shrugged.

"What brings you back?" she asked curiously.

Jace shrugged again, "Boredom."

"Don't you have school?"

"Don't you?" Jace shot the question back at her.

"I'm home early today because of an appointment."

"Oh," he shrugged, "I'm just going to stay her for a few days."

"Alright." She led him towards their house, "I'm surprised your parents let you stay at a strangers house."

"You guys aren't strangers."

"We are to them," she shrugged.

Jace glanced at her, "They trust my judgment."

"Wow," Ruby shrugged, "Alright. It'll be a couple hours before the others are home." She smirked, "I'm sure they'll enjoy continuing your lessons on horse riding."

Jace shook his head, "They'll have to wait for the rest of eternity for that. I'll be staying here for a while."

"How long?"

"Don't know." _That really depends on how soon they figure it out._ He followed her into the house.

"Mom!"

"Yes?"

"Jace is here."

"Really?" her mother appeared around the corner from the hallway, "There are biscuits on the counter if you want one?"

Jace shook his head, "I'm not hungry."

"Alright. How long are you staying?"

"Don't know yet," Jace shrugged.

"Well you're always welcome," she nodded.

Jace flopped onto the couch. It was just as comfortable as he remembered it being.


	23. Chapter 23

Jace opened his eyes. Darkness surrounded him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark. Once they did he realized that he was lying on dead ground. The soil was dry and cracked. The air was heavy. He looked around in surprise. _What the hell happened here? Where am I?_ He got to his feet.

"I think I see something."

Jace froze. He looked over his shoulder slowly. He could much more clearly see three people walking towards him. He didn't recognize any of the three of them. Slowly, so as to not attract their attention he crouched down close to the ground.

"It's not you."

Jace spun around, standing straight as he did so, "What?" He stared at the girl in front of him. Her bright crystalline blue eyes studied him calmly and her platinum blonde hair was cut short. She looked like Orriyon, even sounded like Orriyon, but something told him that this was not her.

"We are all Orriyon," she said simply, "Orriyon is Dokuri's Oracle, or voice depending on who you ask. No other Oracle has had a name beyond Oracle. She was given a name and so each previous, and each future Oracle will share her name."

"What does that mean?" Jace asked.

"The Oracle before Orriyon died without having a child. Normally a child would inherit the mantle but she had none and picked no heir. Instead she stored her power within the Infinite Timelines and cast the three pieces adrift." The girl looked at him. Now that he thought about it he noticed that her hair was closer to white than Orriyon's. Orriyon's hair was more gold. She continued but as she spoke her voice seemed to fade away, getting gradually, slowly quieter, "Ugin created her using the power stored within the Infinite Timelines as well as the power stored within you and your sister. Since that power was awakened the pieces have become restless. Even so the Dragon could never…" her voice disappeared before she finished.

Jace snarled, "That's not helpful!" _It didn't even seem like she was speaking with me. It seemed as though she was speaking just to...speak._ He opened his eyes. _Are they here already? There's no way they found me this easy._

"Are you sure he's here?"

"He has to be!"

Jace froze. He slid off the couch and up to the wall. He peeked around the corner. Jenny, Isabelle, the pinkette that was talking to Jenny in front of the office in the school, and Ral were in the dining room and heading towards the kitchen.

"We're going to get in so much trouble guys," Ral whispered quietly.

"I know for a fact he's here," Jenny hissed.

 _It took them a DAY?! Just a day?_ Jace growled. _Dammit._ He slid around behind them.

"I told you!" Jenny hissed loudly.

Jace shot out the cracked front door. _They didn't even bother making it look like they hadn't just broken into the house. They really are stupid and lucky I let them see me._ He shot down the small dirt roadway onto the street. There wasn't a sidewalk and the hills and bumps of the grass would slow him down. Isabelle was the one that had it easiest keeping up with him followed by Jenny. _I didn't ever tell them about this place. How...Kurai._ Jace narrowed his eyes angrily.

 _You called?_ Kurai's voice echoed in Jace's head. His tone was colored with infuriating false innocence. He only used that tone when he wanted to anger someone.

Jace growled, "Nothing."

 _Of course. I'll be going then._

Jace blocked out everyone, even Kurai and Tessa from his mind as he returned to the city and disappeared into an alleyway. He watched the four of them go racing past.

"Jenny! I still don't understand what we are doing," the pinkette said evenly, "Why are we chasing down these two friends of yours?"

"They won't join my band," Jenny beamed.

"I'm not here to join your band either," the pinkette said dryly.

"But you're here aren't you?"

"Only to pick up Nix."

"So? Nix is helping too," Jenny skipped away, "Besides, it'll be fun. They're incredibly challenging to catch."

The pinkette sighed, "Alright. But once they join your band I'm leaving."

"Okay!"

Jace dared to poke his head out of the alleyway, "Alright. It's time to get creative. Since hiding just outside the city didn't work I'll just have to hide right under their noses." _Emalia should be helpful._ He hurried back to the school. He grabbed the book with the spell he was looking for off of his desk and jumped out the window and into the tree just as Ral opened the door. _That was close._

"Did Cat Ears just take a flying leap out the window?" Ral looked out the window and intently studied the area surrounding it. Jace slid slowly and carefully around the tree, doing his very best to disturb it's branches as little as possible until the trunk was between him and his roommate. He then stayed where he was until Ral gave up and returned to the room. He knew that technically mind controlling the inhumanly fast girl into doing what he wanted wasn't going to be appreciated but they never set down rules before starting the game so he saw no reason why he couldn't as long as he didn't hold her forever. He read through the spell one last time before teleporting back to his room. He set the book down on the dresser and looked at Kaious and Tempest, "You guys just stay up here alright?"

Tempest dipped her head.

"What are you guys even doing anyway?" Kaious asked.

"Well..." Jace shrugged, "Jenny wants me to join a band and I don't want to."

"Ah," Kaious nodded, "She's not taking no for an answer is she?"

"Only because Ral wrote my name on her stupid paper but yeah," he left the room through the window and left the school courtyard behind. He set up a holding spell that would be triggered when someone walked into it then surrounded it with a ward that would keep everyone but his chosen target to stumble across it.

"Gotcha!" Emalia shrieked as Jace shot in front of her. She tore after him as he just barely got out of her reach. She followed him out of the school building, around the boy's dorm building, and out into the city. She was forced to a jarring halt when something triggered beneath her. She realized that it was a spell and cursed.

Jace walked around the corner calmly, "Hi Emalia."

"You're so mean!" Emalia cried in frustration. She willed herself to move but her body wouldn't obey her command.

"The spell will last for a little while longer," Jace walked up to her with a small smirk.

"You're mean!"

Jace rolled his eyes, "I need help and I've decided that you're going to be the one to help me."

"But I'm one of the people trying to catch you," Emalia was confused.

"That doesn't matter," Jace shook his head.

Tessa looked up as the door to the girls' dorm opened.

Emalia looked around in confusion, "Wait...I was just chasing down Jace. What the hell am I doing back at the school?"

Tessa cocked her head to the side, "What do you mean?"

"Something is...missing..." Emalia narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, "I can't remember what happened between chasing Jace and walking through the door."

"Jace oh so kindly cleared your memory of whatever happened between those two points in time," Kurai said from the doorway.

"He...what?! That's not fair!" Emalia cried.

Isabelle sighed, "So do you remember anything?"

"I remember...being in the mall...a clothing store..." Emalia spoke slowly, trying to remember.

"Emalia," Isabelle said simply, "What's your favorite anime?"

"What do you mean?" Emalia asked.

"You were in a clothing store," Tessa said, "and knowing Jace he was probably getting you to get him something to help him blend in a little better."

"I'm a bad choice for that," Emalia giggled.

"What's your favorite anime?" Isabelle repeated the question.

"That's such a hard question," Emalia thought for a few moments, "but I would have to say…I really like Naruto Shippuden."

"Alright," Isabelle turned to Tessa, "Tell everyone they're looking for someone wearing _anything_ Naruto Shippuden related but not to automatically assume the person is Jace."

"If the person's behavior changes to something cautious and watchful then the person is Jace," Kurai said evenly.

Jace growled and dropped off the fridge. He smirked, "That's easily avoided though." He had actually had Emalia specifically avoid anime. Knowing the girl's entire life practically revolved around anime and manga had it's advantages. He left the dorm slowly and carefully and slipped into the alleyways. _I'm tired but sleeping is probably a bad idea. Unless I can find somewhere where no one would be able to reach me._ He paused and leaned against the wall thoughtfully.

"Move!" A familiar voice hissed.

Jace ducked and turned it to a forward roll. He saw Chandra holding a blade by it's tip behind him. Her eyes narrowed, "Come now Lotus. Using sleeping poison against someone susceptible to it is just cheating."

"He mind controlled Emalia. Is that not cheating?"

"It's equalizing," Jace snapped.

"You don't need an equalizer!" Tina insisted.

Chandra shook her head, "Do you know how badly the odds are stacked _against_ us?"

"The odds don't matter when it comes to you two," Tina snapped, "The best they do is tell you what you've got to beat."

 _This'll be fun._ Chandra grinned, "True." She leaped forward.

Jace took the opportunity to scramble up to the roof of the nearby building. He knew that Lotus would be impossible for him to read. He watched the two battle intently.

"I'm surprised you'd agree to being in a band. Performing in front of hundreds of people," Chandra taunted.

"I didn't get any more of a choice than you do!" Tina blocked a punch from the redhead. Three small blades were concealed between her fingers. Tina stared at her, "Are you trying to _kill_ me?!"

"No," Phoenix smirked.

Jace wished her luck and left.


	24. Chapter 24

Chandra grimaced. _My back._

 _Just a little longer. They'll leave the store in a minute._

 _A minute or ten?_ Chandra was dressed as a manikin in the clothing store window. Luckily she was wearing a plastic face hugging mask over her face so they couldn't see how much pain she was in. She was arching her back to a painful degree to try and imitate a typical manikin pose.

 _Maybe five._

 _You snarky pain in my ass Jace. I'll kill you._

 _You wouldn't._ Chandra heard him snicker in her head. _You love me too much._

She gritted her teeth. T _ry me you little shit._ She couldn't see beyond the mask but could hear Jenny speaking with the employee about whether or not they'd seen her.

 _Also...there's some bad news._

Chandra rolled her eyes. _Of course there is._

 _The Black Lotus are helping Jenny find us._

 _Do...WHAT?!_ Chandra resist the urge to growl. _Dammit. How many of them?_

 _Well Lily and Dragon are currently searching the mall. They're downstairs though. If you want to get out of here you'll have to go jumping out a window but Jack, Rick, Michael, David, Tina, Ral, Sea, Sakura, and Flame are waiting for you. In different places of course. Also Falcon, Hawk and Shadow are up on rooftops watching out for you._

 _Great._ Chandra heard someone walk past the platform she was standing on. She gritted her teeth. The door opened and Jenny's group left. Jenny of course was complaining about how she could've sworn Chandra was in there. Chandra slid quickly off the platform and away from the window. She took the mask off and patted the stunned employee on the shoulder, "Thanks man." She looked around, "Clothes. Clothes. Clothes." She looked around the store, "Do you have anything gothic lolita?"

"Gothic Lolita?" The employee paused for a moment, "I don't think we do but there's a store on the second floor that does. I think."

Chandra nodded, "Alright." She shot out the door and down to the second floor of the mall. _Holy damn. They're everywhere._

"There she is!" Isabelle yowled.

Chandra took off. _The elevator's this way._ She shot down the hallway to her left. Isabelle tried stopping her but Jace canceled her ability out easily. Chandra slid into the elevator. It closed just before her pursuers could catch it.

"What floor is she going to?!" Isabelle snarled.

"Don't know," Yuri shook his head.

Isabelle's eyes narrowed, "We'll split up. Check every floor of the mall."

"But-"

"Use the stairs!" Isabelle darted off.

Yuri sighed and looked at Cristi, Onyx and Locke, "Let's go then." The mall wasn't very crowded thankfully. It was the middle of a snowy Wednesday. Technically the group should be in school.

"Jace!" Yuri jumped and looked around. He saw Alice chasing Jace down. The two looked very similar. Especially when they were running. Yuri looked up to the next floor. He had the feeling the two were helping each other. _If that's the case then there's no way we'll catch them without them allowing us to._ A young blond haired teen skipped past him. She had a giant bow in her hair that resembled Isabelle's pink bow except it was blue. Her green eyes glowed with happy contentment. Yuri sighed, "The people in this town are so weird."

"Yuri!" Jenny skidded to a stop in front of him, "We've almost got Jace!" She grabbed his arm and led him to the elevator. The elevator took them up to the fourth floor of the mall. Yuri stumbled after Jenny as she dragged him quickly through the halls. Jace was cornered in a store. Shelves of fragile ceramic sculptures filled the store Yuri felt anxiety grip him. They'd be in serious trouble if they broke anything in the store. There were three fans in the ceiling and the scent of incense was heavy in the air.

"Join my band!" Jenny insisted.

"No." Jace shook his head.

"C'mon Cat Ears!" Ral urged.

Jace smirked suddenly, "Catch me." He jumped up onto a shelf and, without breaking or dropping anything climbed it. He went from the top of that shelf to the closest fan. It was spinning slowly. He sat on one of the blades and looked down at them.

"Get down!" Jenny cried, "That's not fair!"

Alice growled and slid just as gracefully up the shelf.

Jace glanced at her. He dropped to the ground. However the moment he hit it no one could move. He smirked and disappeared out of the store. Yuri saw him cut Tina off from the Gothic Lolita girl, knocking the assassin off her feet. He skidded but quickly changed direction. The two disappeared down the hall. Only then could the group move. Yuri cocked his head to the side, "So the...Gothic Lolita girl that's been skipping around the mall for however long was actually Chandra?"

"If the fact that Tina was chasing her down is anything to go off of," Locke shrugged.

"But you're one of the Black Lotus," Isabelle snapped, "How could you not know?"

"The assassin Crimson Phoenix is known for having multiple personalities and appearances, all of which are entirely unique," Locke said confidently, "Her true identity is entirely unknown because of this. She could be anyone at any time."

"You sound like you're reciting something."

"I am. I'm reciting what every scholar has ever managed to gather on Phoenix," Locke nodded.

"That's it?" Yuri asked.

"Let's see if we can't catch them before they leave the mall!" Jenny darted off.

Yuri looked at Locke, "Seriously?" He jogged after Jenny.

Locke nodded, "Yeah. That's how badass she is."

Yuri shook his head in amazement. They followed Lily and Dragon to the rooftop of the mall. Jace glanced down over the edge. They were seven stories up. A drop from here wouldn't end well. He rolled his eyes as Jenny's group burst out of the roof exit. Chandra still looked very confident while he looked more uncertain. She had ditched the blond but not the outfit.

Lily grinned, "Where are you guys gonna go now?"

Chandra smirked, "Don't know." Lily leaped forward. Dragon followed quickly. Chandra sidestepped the elf and knocked Dragon off his feet before he reached Jace. She picked Jace up and jumped off the roof. Yuri heard Jace squeak from where he was standing on the other side of the roof.

"Did you forget that I have wings?" Chandra smirked.

"I think you forgot you had wings," Jace snapped.

"I did not!" She had but was never going to admit it to him. Or anyone else for that matter.

"GET BACK HERE PHOENIX!"

Chandra glanced over her shoulder, "Shit they have wing."

"Really?!" Jace looked at her dryly.

Lily and Dragon were following them through the air. They did have a wider turning radius than Chandra but were just as fast. Chandra grinned, "Catch me if you can!" She shot straight up into the air.

"Lilianna's following us too."

"Oh. Fun," Chandra continued to go higher and higher into the sky. _Let's see how high I have to go before they give up._ She didn't spare a glance down, "Hey Jace. Pull my goggles off my forehead and over my eyes will you?"

He did as he was bid after giving her a confused glance, "Just how high are you going to go?"

"Haven't decided yet."

"We're going to light on fire on the way back down if you go to high you know."

She cackled.

"That may not effect you but I'm not immune to fire!" Jace squealed.

She glanced at him, "You learned protective spells didn't you?"

Jace shot her a mutinous glance, "So?"

"So it doesn't matter."

"Phoenix!" Lily howled angrily, "You get your sorry ass down here!"

Chandra cackled madly, "You'll have to catch me first!"

"I hate you so much," Jace muttered, "You really should go back down now. The atmosphere will get too thin to breath if you go too high."

Chandra sighed, "Probably. Hold on."

His eyes widened, "Don't just nose dive it!" He squeezed his eyes shut as she back flipped in the air and dove straight down. He flattened his ears. _If we DIE I'm going to hunt you down and make sure your soul is not reintroduced to the world!_ He heard Lily squawk in surprise as Chandra went flying past her but didn't dare open his eyes. He wasn't necessarily afraid of heights but he had no interest in watching the ground race up to meet him. He already had ten worst case scenarios in his head. If Chandra didn't pull up in time then they'd hit the ground and splatter. _I don't even know how I keep getting into these situations anymore._ He put a protective barrier around them just in case if they did catch fire. Chandra was very obviously enjoying herself while Jace just wanted it to be over already. _It'd be great if you could put me back on solid ground._ He felt the air around him change as she pulled up but also felt her run along the ground for about five seconds. She was back in the air momentarily, "You can open your eyes now."

"Put me down," Jace insisted.

"Well...that's not exactly possible."

"Why not?"

"Tina's chasing us in a jet."

 _How-never mind. I don't even need to ask. I'm pretty sure I don't want to know either._ He growled in frustration, "Once you lose her put me down."

"Deal."

The feeling of air flowing past him could be considered relaxing. That was if he actually trusted Chandra not to do something very stupid that could result in death.


	25. Chapter 25

Jace felt relief flood him as she set him down on a rooftop. He glared at her, "You are cruel and heartless and-"

"Awesome?"

He gave her a flat look, "No. You're dumb."

"I'm the one that got us off the roof of the mall wasn't I?" Chandra asked.

"Yeah. And you also got us chased by a _jet_ for four hours," Jace snarled.

"She gave up didn't she?"

"After four hours," Jace muttered. He lifted his head to the horizon, "And only when she realized she'd run out of fuel before being able to catch you in a jet."

"It's not my fault I have better maneuverability," Chandra shrugged.

"Tina's having Jenny set up a system of teleportation portals. They'll take us directly into the school where they will have an ambush waiting for us all day every day."

Chandra nodded approvingly, "Alright. Nice."

"You say that a lot," Jace rolled his eyes, "Also why are you even so approving of that? It means more work for us!"

"It'll make things more fun," Chandra shrugged. She smirked, "Be sure to find some place to sleep tonight." She disappeared into the alley below them and was gone.

Jace sighed, "Oh. Yeah." He looked around dully. The night sky was clear but because of all the city lights he couldn't see the stars. He rolled his eyes before dropping into the alley. _Elspeth doesn't know about any of this does she?_

 _She probably knows we've been out of school._

 _Oh._ Jace headed to the house.

He opened his eyes to the sound of a faint voice echoing in his head. As he became more awake he recognized the voice.

 _I hate to interrupt the fun but has anyone seen Nix? She's been missing all day so far._

Jace sat up and wandered down the stairs. _What time is it?_ He kept the thought to himself as he didn't actually want an answer from anyone.

"Jace?!" Gideon looked at him in surprise.

Jace grabbed a box of crackers and looked at the clock. It was well after noon. He rolled his eyes, "Of course it is." He waved at Gideon, "Tell Kaechia I said hi."

 _She's missing?!_

Jace didn't recognize who was speaking. He grabbed the skateboard Locke had given him from where it was leaning up against the wall by the door and left the house. He met up with Chandra, Isabelle, Tina, Jenny, Sakura and Rick on their way back to the school.

"YOU CAN SKATEBOARD?!" Jenny cried in surprise.

Jace stopped and shrugged, "What of it?"

"Jenny," Sakura said firmly, "Not now. Nix is missing. We have to find her."

Jace walked with them through the streets. They were joined by a group consisting of Yuri, Michael, David, Onyx, Erin, and Kyle before reaching the gates of the school.

Lilianna waited for them with Melody, Emalia, Hades, Kamiya, Debby and Claire. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was studying them carefully.

Sakura looked at them, "When was Nix last seen?"

"I last saw her really early this morning," Melody said, "she said she was going to get some flour for today."

Sakura nodded, "Alright." She hurried into the girls' dorm. Jace followed her silently. He made sure she didn't notice him with a few simple spells. The pink haired girl dug through her smaller bag and pulled out a device.

"A tracker?" Jace said out loud.

Sakura glanced at him, "She's a sentient robot. She didn't tell you that?"

Jace stared at her, "No."

"Oh," Sakura shrugged.

Jace studied her through narrowed eyes. He still had the feeling he knew her from somewhere. He had the feeling he had at the very least seen her before when he hadn't in his memory. He furrowed his brow in frustration. _Where have I seen you before?_

She glanced at him, "How fast do you think you'd be able to come up with a rescue plan?"

"That depends on how far she is," Jace said.

"The tracker's last signal was from the northern border of the United States near Canada."

"Last signal?" Jace asked.

Sakura nodded, "Yes. It seems to have been disconnected or blocked off somehow."

Jace cocked his head to the side, "Near Canada? I don't think you realize how strange the residents of this city look to the outside world. A rescue's not-"

"She may be a robot but she's your essentially your sister, Poseidon!" Sakura said firmly.

Jace's eyes widened and he stared at her, "What?"

Sakura kept her gaze steady, "We will be rescuing her and I am asking for your help."

Jace was about to shake his head but before he could speak Jenny was in the doorway, "Of course we'll help! There's no reason we wouldn't right?" She looked at Jace. Jace stared at the ground in silence for many moments. He knew Sakura would think he was abandoning her. He lifted his head and fixed the pinkette with an icy glare, "My name is not Poseidon. My name is Jace. And that is what you will call me if you want me to continue aiding you." His voice was cold and hard.

"I apologize Jace," Sakura nodded.

"Is that a yes?" Jenny asked.

"I'll help," Jace shrugged, "For however much that's worth." He turned and stalked away.

Jenny stared after him, "What happened?"

Sakura shook her head, "It's much too complicated to explain right now Jenny."

"Cat Ears!" Ral raced up to him.

"What?"

"Damn. You're in a sour mood," Ral sighed. He shook his head, "Anyway, I had an idea last night so I went to Echo. We tried to figure it out but there's something missing in the equation. Not even Cain knows exactly what's wrong-"

"What idea are you talking about?" Jace snarled.

"A mana fix," Ral said sheepishly, "Also why are you so mad?"

"I'm not mad."

"You're certainly not pleased Cat Ears."

"That doesn't automatically mean I'm mad!" Jace snapped.

"Alright. Jeez. Any news on Nix. Is she actually missing or…?"

"Last anyone knew she was up near Canada. How she got there so quickly is anyone's guess." He narrowed his eyes, "I have an idea." He looked at Ral, "When everyone realizes I'm gone tomorrow make sure no one comes after me."

"Why?" Ral asked warily.

Jace started walking towards the dorm room, "It'll ruin my plan."

"Cat Ears. What is your plan?"

Jace shrugged, "She's up near Canada. I'm going looking."

"Cat Ears...are you getting yourself _caught_?" Ral couldn't say he was surprised really.

Jace looked at him, "Not exactly."

"How can you even be sure-"

"I have four words for you Ral," Jace snapped, "Planeswalking telepathic killing machine."

"You aren't a killing machine Cat Ears."

"Would anyone that didn't know me see me as anything different?" Jace asked coldly.

Ral sighed, "Point taken I guess. You're still not a killing machine."

Jace rolled his eyes, "Just make sure no one comes after me. Especially Chandra. She'd ruin everything."

"Alright. I'll keep trying to work on the mana blanket too then."

"Alright," Jace glanced at him, "If my hunch is correct then we'll need that if things go wrong."

"Hunch about what?"

"Nix," Jace said darkly. He left Ral where he was and disappeared into the dorm building.

Ral stared after him curiously, "Alright...Cat Ears. That was quite the odd conversation." He took a deep breath, "Alright."


	26. Chapter 26

Jace opened his eyes. He was lying on a cool metal floor. The lights were bright enough to hurt his eyes. He squinted and sat up. The room was clean and wide. He looked around. It was completely empty except a small stream on the far left side of the room. He crawled warily over to it. It seemed drinkable. It was completely clear. He could see the floor through it. He touched it curiously. It seemed fine. It was cool to the touch. He felt energy flow through him just from touching the water. His eyes widened. _Mana?_

"By taking samples of your blood and gathering samples of a pure power source we have discovered a way to make the energy usable by you but you alone."

Jace turned in surprise. _Of course I didn't hear them come in. They're on a screen. Naturally._ His eyes narrowed. The person looked like the typical professional scientist.

"We're going to be testing the limit of a mana based ability."

Jace's eyes widened. _The limit? How?_

"Basically you're abilities will be pushed beyond their normal limit and will temporarily run out of control. You don't need to worry. There has been no simulation where the subject of the test has died."

 _Simulation. No simulation where the subject died. That's very reassuring._ Jace swallowed nervously. _How are they going to push my abilities to the limit? What are they going to do?_

"We have discovered a sound frequency that limits the mind and body's ability to control the energy that it uses and therefore draws."

"Sound?" Jace looked around. There didn't appear to be a door anywhere in the room. The amplification of the room was astounding. A single whisper would echo throughout the room. The sound frequency would be deafening once it played, let alone the fact that losing control of ones abilities could very well be deadly. In any case it was detrimental to the planeswalker's mental stability at the very least. Having an ability run out of control could lead to insanity and an almost constant godlike feeling. That led to a believed invincibility. It almost nullified the ability of the nerves to feel pain so until the heart or the brain gave out they would continue. He shook his head, "Don't. You obviously don't have all the information-" he broke off as the sound rang through the room. His ears flattened and he had a headache almost instantly. He could feel himself involuntarily drawing from and releasing mana. A dull throbbing pain consumed his entire body. He curled into a ball and held his head. He could hear the blood flowing in his own veins and it hurt. It felt like a sledgehammer was being slammed into his head with every heartbeat. He could hear millions of voices all screaming inside his head. They cried in distress and laughed with ecstatic joy. They screamed in rage and they howled in triumph. The voice of every mind on the world echoed in his head. After the relative quiet of the past year it was deafening.

Eventually the pain subsided and he was allowed to rest. He felt like vomiting and couldn't muster the energy to sit up. He just laid on his side and stared dully at the wall. _Why_ _did I think this was a good idea again?_ He closed his eyes and sank into welcome darkness. Psychedelic colors filled his mind's eye, creating blinding patterns. Random images he didn't understand crashed violently through his mind but his eyes refused to open. His body refused to wake up no matter how desperately he wanted it to. He felt sensations he'd never felt before, things he'd picked up from random people he'd never met before. He felt everything and nothing all at once in a very confusing and almost maddening manner.

"Again."

Jace didn't even open his eyes. He didn't need to. This time the pain didn't cease nearly as quickly. Time dragged on until he lost consciousness. It felt like he was floating in nothing in an odd state of peace. Nothing about the situation made sense and he couldn't see anything but darkness even though he swore his eyes were open. He knew he was dreaming but the darkness began to scare him. It became a suffocating crushing black river. All the weight of the world crashed into him on all sides. It crushed him between steel-like hands. Suddenly a small hand gently touched his cheek, "It's okay. They can't hurt you anymore, Big Brother." A small light within the darkness took the form of a six year old boy. The boy had crystalline white hair and deep purple eyes, like amethyst. Jace blinked and stared at him, "What?"

"I'm the light that you always had deep within you given form," the boy explained. His eyes glowed in warm happiness, "I'm glad I get to meet you Big Brother."

Jace was too exhausted and confused to tell the kid he wasn't his brother. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back. He almost felt like he was floating on still water now.

Jace opened his eyes. _Wait a minute. Why am I even still here?_ He hissed as the lights flashed on suddenly. He squinted and glared at the screen.

"A-"

"Wait one moment," Jace got to his feet. With access to mana he could do a lot more now. _If they managed to purify it for me, if I can find how they did it, then I can take that back to Ral and Echo._ He swayed slightly and had to step to the right to keep from falling. He summoned Echo's mana absorbing bow to his hands and aimed it at the door. He couldn't regulate his mana very well but that just meant the charged arrow would be either somewhat explosive or very explosive. He vaguely heard whoever was on the screen order guards to wherever the entrance of the room was. He couldn't see a clear door but blowing through a wall would be just as effective. In his long coats many pockets he had paper clips, coins and other small items. It had taken a little while but everything he had on his person was very receptive to ambient explosive telekinetic energy. The arrow flew true. Jace put up a barrier between himself and the flying debris and shrapnel.

"You're not getting any farther," a girl around his own age stood beyond the wall with a large number of heavily armed and armored guards.

Jace rolled his eyes, "And you're going to stop me?"

"If I have to," she warned darkly.

Jace had to admit that he was curious. The girl seemed confident she could take him on. Maybe even confident enough to think she could win. _God. I've spent way too much time with Chandra and her psychotic tendencies._ He looked at the guards, "Wouldn't it be cheating? You have seventy five guards and I have just me."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you can take the guards out no problem," she waved her hand, "Now sit down and allow the testing to continue!"

"You make it seem like you expect me to simply obey because I have seventy four guns pointed at my head as well as a missile launcher," Jace sounded almost mocking.

"I have to say, I didn't expect Poseidon to be so cocky," she snarled.

He smirked, "Maybe I've been away too long. Even so," he walked forward slowly and confidently. The guards tightened their holds on their weapons but refused to fire without the order. "I don't feel like changing that. Or even changing the circumstances that brought it up."

"Very well then." She looked at the guards, "Fire!"

The gunshots echoed deafeningly through the room. Jace put up a simple barrier. The girl leaped forward to meet him in the center of the room. She was unnaturally fast. She was at the level where she could kick him in the head. He bent backwards under her leg as she spun. He back flipped and wrapped his ankles around her neck. She landed on her fingers and toes and rolled to the side, taking Jace with her. Jace rolled away from her and blocked her next hit. She started to pull the walls of the room towards her.

 _Telekinesis._ Jace back flipped over the first metal shard that had lined the wall. He landed on the second and used it as a platform. He leaped off of it and knocked the girl to the ground. The guards were unable to intervene. If they fired there was a high chance that they could hit the girl that was obviously their commander.

She flipped and slammed him into the floor hard enough to dent the metal. Her entire body glowed with energy. It crackled off of her like lightning. Jace tossed up a handful of coins and charged them. They shot at her and exploded. She had to pull away from him to cover her face. In an instant he was behind her.

Now that he was away from her the missile launcher guard let it off.

Jace knocked all seventy five men and women unconscious and telekinetically redirected the missile towards her, "Sorry. I'd love to continue but I have more pressing matters to attend to. He dove out the hole in the wall and left her to defend against a missile. He didn't think she wouldn't be able to but it would keep her occupied enough to allow him to get away from her at least. He shot through the halls. He could feel Tempest's presence nearby. He scanned every room as he passed it. So far Tempest was in none of them. _They better not have hurt her._ He skidded to a halt in front of a nearly impenetrable door. He stared at it in frustration, "Of course!" He threw his arms in the air. _Of course the door is nearly impossible to get through. Blowing it up isn't going to work._ His eyes widened as he sensed something behind him. He barely managed to get out of the way of jagged and sharp sheets of metal flying through the hall towards him.

"I'm not done with you yet!" The girl from before was bruised and had a handful of burns, mostly on her arms.

Jace gritted his teeth, "That sucks. I'm just about sick of you." He grabbed a handful of paper clips and coins and tossed them into the air. They shot towards the girl, dodging around her sheets of metal. She took the blows but leaped towards him, "It's going to take more than that. You'll have to kill me," she snarled.

Jace dodged her tightly clenched fist and caught her arm. He flipped her and pinned her there with her arm twisted up behind her, "I'd rather not kill you."

"That's the only way to stop me," she insisted. She had surprisingly stopped struggling.

Jace slid into her mind to get a little bit of information on her. _Anya huh?_ He knelt down next to her and smirked, "But you wouldn't want to give your father that kind of satisfaction would you? You wouldn't want to be any more worthless to him than you already are because his supposed flawless creation ended up defeating you as well, would you?"

Energy crackled along Anya's skin instantly. She glared hatefully at him, "How dare you."

Jace was knocked back with a blast of concussive telekinetic force. He flipped and landed on his feet, sliding backwards about three feet. He pulled his bow and charged it before firing it off. The arrow was disintegrated before it reached her. He cocked his head to the side, "Okay."

The structural integrity of the building became more and more dangerously weak as she started relentlessly ripping the walls apart. She threw each piece at him one after the other.

Jace dodged around them. He didn't have the power to be able to redirect them. She was a much more adept and powerful telekinetic than he was. He tossed up another handful of coins and paperclips. _Maybe if I combine mana with the Arcana then I'll be able to do something about an equalizer._ Power rushed through him. Wisps of silvery blue energy flowed off of him and tapered off into the air around him. His eyes glowed brightly with energy. _And just to make my life easier I'm going to pull on that door._ He teleported behind Anya. He knew it was a risky move. He'd be pulling the door towards himself as well as her meaning if he couldn't get out of the way in time they'd both be crushed. He looked into her mind again. _The recorded logs and observations are all in an underground section of the facility. That's where I'll find how they managed to purify the mana without making it entirely unstable and where they're keeping Nix._ He felt the door give. It came flying across the hall towards them.

Anya clenched her jaw on a cry of shock and pain as the door slammed into her. Jace barely managed to duck under her and the chunk of metal reinforced wood. He darted into the room, "Tempest!"

The tiger bounded up to him. In the large cat's mouth, unconscious, was the little white haired boy. Jace stared at him for a moment, "Wha-" He was interrupted when the ceiling began to tremble. He glanced over his shoulder. Anya was back on her feet, having knocked the door that had pinned her off. She brought the ceiling cascading down on top of them.

"Big brother?" the kid was beginning to gain consciousness.

Jace put a barrier around Tempest and the little white haired boy and leaped towards Anya. He knocked her into the wall. Icy cold rage settled within him. He picked her up. His eyes burned brightly with power. "You can hurt me but don't ever put someone entirely uninvolved in danger," he hissed at her.

She glared at him, "Then don't bring up someone's past as a weapon against them." She knocked him back. Jace landed on bits of the falling debris and leaped back at her. Small daggers appeared in both of his hands. One he held in reverse grip the other he held normally.

Anya pulled the wall around her as a shield. She heard the blades scrape against her makeshift barrier. The sound was jarring. She snarled and pushed the wall, hoping to catch her opponent the same way he'd caught her with the door. She looked around the hallway. It was empty. He was gone. She growled, "He's still here. He has to be."


	27. Chapter 27

"Interesting. It seems your choice is unbalanced."

"And how would he be unbalanced?"

"There's too much light in him. In order to be a proper selection he would need an equally powerful dark influence. Otherwise the balance that five is supposed to bring would be off balance."

"An equally powerful dark influence? He has enough darkness within him and in his past to make him a perfect candidate."

"We shall see."

Jace watched the sphinx disappear from his sight. The creature was tasked with taking the white haired kid and Tempest back to Elendeth where they would then wait with Kaious and Ral. He turned back to the building. _Now. Let's do what I actually came here to do._ He slid back into the building. Anya was no longer in the hallway. He shrugged indifferently and used the map of the place he'd gotten from her mind to make his way down.

The facility was oddly barren suddenly. Anxiety filled him. _Maybe I shouldn't have taken the time to get Tempest and that kid out of here. Dammit._ The logs were destroyed. Everything was completely destroyed. Jace cursed, "Of course."

"You were after the robot were you not? Poseidon?"

Jace growled, "Why the hell does everyone keep calling me Poseidon! That's not my name!"

"It will always be your name as far as I am concerned. It is better than Cat is it not."

Jace pushed down the urge to hiss. He recognized that voice, "You were the one that was always up there along with Areu."

"Correction, Poseidon. I am the director of that entire project."

 _All the more reason for me to kill you._ Jace smirked, "And that means something to me?" _So he would know everything I'm looking for._ The purified mana stream, although covered in rubble, was not destroyed.

"You are my father's creation," Anya said from the shadows behind Jace, "You are his property."

Jace almost laughed, "Really? His property?"

"Nicely put Anya," the man sounded almost mocking.

Jace looked at him, "My name is not Poseidon. I refuse to answer to it."

"My, my. Anya wasn't kidding when she said you'd gotten cocky."

"Maybe not cocky. Maybe I've just found worth in myself and figured out what I'm going to stand for and what I'm willing to fight for." Jace slowly and ever so gently picked through the man's mind. He could tell that the man was crazy. He believed that Jace was his greatest creation and Anya had lived her entire life being compared to him and being told how worthless she was next to him. He memorized all the information stored within his mind. Doctor Allen Hampton was brilliant. He was also sadistic, proud and just generally unpleasant.

"Anya. Commence your operation." the doctor ordered.

Jace didn't bother pulling out of the man's mind. He'd done this before. He would be able to do it again. He teleported behind Anya. She barely managed to pull up short so she didn't hit her father instead but it left her disoriented. He teleported so he was over her and dropped a handful of coins and paperclips over her. He charged them and they exploded. He quickly teleported away. _Where is it? Come on._ He watched her fly towards him through the smoke. Her eyes glittered with icy hatred. He knew her hatred came from her constantly living in his shadow although this was the first time either of them had met. His curiosity bid him to look into her mind as well.

 _Because of you. Because you even exist I am this way. Because he tried to recreate you I had to kill them. I've spent my entire life being compared, belittled by a comparison to someone I'd never met. I'll prove that I am not less than you. I'll prove that my worth does not rely on you!_

Jace smirked. He met her halfway across the room. He appeared above her and knocked her into the ground. She landed in a crouch and leaped up at him.

 _I've been trained in combat by The Changeling! You have no such training!_

Jace sifted through the doctor's mind. It was a giant repository of knowledge. Most of that knowledge was gathered through sick twisted experimentation on living beings. He caught Anya and pinned her to the ground. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear, "I may not have been trained by The Changeling but I've stood strong against forces you can't even comprehend. I wouldn't count me out just yet." He let her go and back flipped. He looked at the doctor. His voice was harder than steel, "I am _not_ your property. I never will be. If any harm comes to the Athena Project or any other project because of you I will kill you."

"You detest death and blood," Anya hissed. She spat to her left.

Jace looked over his shoulder at her. His gaze was hard and blank. He smirked, "You think that'll stop me?" He turned his back on the doctor and walked slowly up to her. His gaze didn't change. "You think that simply because I have a problem with blood that I'll hesitate to kill someone that has put so many through such unimaginable pain?"

Anya backed away from him in horror. She had always told herself, every time she'd seen the recordings of him running the mazes that he wasn't scary. She had never understood why so many backed away from him as he walked slowly, calmly towards them. Now she knew. He wasn't calm. His eyes were blank his voice soft and emotionless. To listen to someone speak of death and of killing another person in that manner was more terrifying than it was when someone watched the events through a recording, completely removed from the situation.

Gunshots echoed from behind them, semiautomatic. They stopped in midair behind him. He turned slowly away from Anya.

Anya saw that her father looked excited. He was pleased that there were still traces of the Poseidon he had crafted in the cocky spoiled brat that was in front of them.

"There it is. Poseidon!"

Anya realized that she never could surpass him. To switch so quickly from a human mind with suppressed emotions to completely emotionless and blank was not something she could do. It wasn't something she wanted to do.

 _Big brother? Are...you okay?_ The kid's voice echoed in his mind. He sounded terrified.

Jace stopped dead and his eyes widened. He cursed. _Dammit. Dammit. Dammit._

 _Are you okay?_

 _I'm fine._ Jace glared at the doctor, "My warning still stands." _I have what I need._ He turned towards the door. Instantly a small army filled the doorway. Jace gritted his teeth. _Ral. The information I'm giving you is a formula that was used to purify a single stream of mana. You should be able to have Cain extrapolate that to make your mana blanket. We're going to need it._

 _Alright Cat Ears. Beautiful's going to have some choice words for you when you get back. I barely managed to convince her not to go after you and she's been a vicious fidgety mess._

 _Great._ Jace glanced at the doorway, "Fine. We can do this the hard way." He crouched and leaped forward. Every single person he came into contact with collapsed as an artificial sleep consumed them. He stopped drawing on mana and raced through the halls. The upper part of the facility was destroyed. Half of it still stood while the other half was a pile of rubble and metal shards. He jumped easily through the rubble and disappeared.

Ral jumped as Jace suddenly appeared in the room, "God damn Cat Ears!"

Jace collapsed.

"Whoa!" Ral knelt down next to him and rolled him onto his back. He was unconscious, probably just from overexertion because he seemed fine. Ral sighed, "Don't give me a heart attack like that."


	28. Chapter 28

"Leave me alone!" Jace whined.

"C'mon Cat Ears!"

"No. I'm suffering from Mana Withdrawal."

"Um..." Ral stared at him for a moment, "I don't think that's a thing."

"Yes it is," Jace muttered.

"That's not a thing."

"It is a thing," Jace insisted.

"No it's not," Ral shook his head.

"Yes it is."

"I don't think so."

"It is now," Jace muttered.

"Cat Ears. You can't just come up with some ailment that doesn't exist in order to stay in bed," Ral said.

"Jace get your sorry ass up!" Chandra yelled angrily, "Elspeth has told me that I can beat you up for being a sneaky little prick now!"

"I'm dead! You can't beat me up if I'm dead!" Jace yelled at her through the door.

Jayden poked him, "No you're not."

Jace pulled the white haired boy down so his face was gently imbedded in the pillow and hissed, "She doesn't need to know that."

Jayden had insisted on staying with Jace in the school dorms even though he wasn't allowed to by the school's rules. Chandra had suggested they just hide them and had entrusted Jace and Ral with his care. Jace still didn't think entrusting the two of them to look after a little kid around the age of six was a very good idea. Ral couldn't ever tell the kid no. Jayden was more spoiled than Jace.

"Oh really?" Chandra asked.

Jace heard her messing with the lock. He got to his feet and jumped out the window. He landed in the tree and bolted across the courtyard.

"Hey Jace!" Jenny called out to him.

Jace shook his head. _Not now Jenny!_

"Get back here you damn coward!" Chandra shot across the courtyard, easily closing the distance with a bit of added firepower.

Jace dodged to the side and circled around the school courtyard again. The air tasted like spring. Hopefully it would warm up quickly without getting too hot. He hated the snow and the cold but he also didn't like being uncomfortably hot. Part of his hatred for snow came from Michael and David showering him with it if they decided he was being too lazy. He skidded to a surprised stop as someone appeared in front of him. There were actually two people.

"Hey! Watch where you're going you little brat!"

Jace glared at the dark haired woman angrily, "Then maybe you shouldn't come out of nowhere."

Her companion stopped her from continuing the argument and led her away. Jace rolled his eyes, "Jeez." He slid into the school building and away from Chandra.

"R-Rheah?!" Michael and David stumbled over themselves in the Lady of Justice's presence just as Jace entered the cafeteria. "That's Rheah?" he looked at Kurai curiously.

Kurai nodded, "Yep."

Jace looked back at the Avenger in surprise, "Wow. I expected her hair to be shorter. I mean she's a warrior isn't she?" He decided to leave out the part about him crashing into them while running from Chandra earlier that morning and then snapping angrily at them. It didn't embarrass him any but he didn't want anyone apologizing to the two of them on his behalf. "I also expected her hair to be darker. She's not all that intimidating either." He had, naturally read all the stories about the extremely powerful and often feared Archangel of Justice. She wasn't as ruthless and cold as her predecessor but she was known for being extremely unforgiving _once_ someone managed to incite her wrath. According to the stories actually making the Archangel genuinely mad was very difficult.

Rheah had long strawberry blond hair pulled into a single bun just to the right on the back of her head. A small clump of her hair was left out of the bun and hung down, reaching the small of her back. She appeared to be an adult female woman instead of taking on a younger form. The armor that covered most if not all of her body seemed to glow even without any light reflecting off of it. It was silver trimmed with gold.

"She's not intimidating?" Kurai asked in amusement.

Jace glanced at him, "No. Not really."

"You'd be among the few who think so then," Kurai shook his head.

"Do you find her intimidating?" Jace asked.

"Not particularly but then again we are on a very similar power level," Kurai reminded Jace, "There is no reason for me to be afraid of her."

"Oh," Jace looked around, "Why is she here? And is the person next to her Aemeira?"

"Amy?" Kurai nodded. He looked at Jace, "It'd be best if you called her Amy. She'll fillet you otherwise."

Jace snickered as he watched Michael and David panic and begin apologizing desperately after having made the mistake of calling her Aemeira just then, "I can see. Even so. I expected Rheah to be more intimidating than her."

Amy had long dark red or black hair, depending on how the light hit it. Her armor appeared just as heavy as Rheah's but was pitch black or dark grey. Her eyes were opaque and a creepy glowing orange. She was also taller than Rheah by about two inches.

Jace noticed that everyone in the cafeteria was on their very best behavior and was glancing at the two uneasily. _I wonder why they're here._

"Rheah was a child of prophecy and is the daughter of a god," Kurai explained, "Amy however was alive before the weapon. She spent her life slaying dragons for the fun of it."

Jace's eyes widened, "That's the reason for their difference in placement?"

"Yes. Amy, in life, killed other living beings for sport and prize," Kurai explained, "She got tired of the politics of the Realm of Shadows and returned to the mortal world shortly after her inception into the ranks. There she gathered and led a band of criminals."

"Why's she a...good guy now then?" Jace asked.

Kurai shrugged, "No clue. I didn't exist."

"You didn't?"

Kurai looked down at his summoner dryly, "I'm not that old."

"Oh," Jace sighed and looked back at Rheah and Amy. _She slays dragons?_ "What kind of dragons did she slay for...fun?"

"Dragons similar in power to the ones you currently face," Kurai said as though it wasn't a big deal.

Jace's eyes widened and he stared at him, "What?!"

Kurai looked at him, "What?"

"Then why doesn't she just-"

"She may be a being from another realm but she is not a planeswalker. She cannot leave the shards."

"Oh," Jace sighed. He glanced at her, "And she seems like the type to decide not to help for her own sick amusement."

"There is that," Kurai nodded, "And not all the dragons of that time were as powerful as the ones you face. They're comparable yes, but they are generally weaker. Their status as planeswalkers makes them exponentially more powerful than any dragon Amy killed."

"Oh," Jace nodded, "Similar to how planeswalkers are generally more powerful than a regular mage then."

Kurai nodded, "Exactly."

He looked at the demon, "Do you know why they're here?"

Kurai nodded once.

Jace rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Rheah and Amy, "You aren't going to tell me are you?"

Kurai shook his head, "You'll know in time. For now you have more important things to worry about."

"Oh yeah. The fact that we still have yet to figure out exactly where Nix is," Jace sighed.

"And that Chandra is insistent on beating you up," Kurai's warning came moments too late. The redhead assassin had Jace pinned to the ground in an instant. Jace growled. _I swear. You're plotting against me just as much as she is._

 _Maybe. Even so. At least I warned you._

Jace rolled his eyes. He looked up at Chandra, "What?"

"WHAT?!" Chandra's face was suddenly millimeters from his own, "You're stupid ass goes and gets yourself caught without telling anyone but Ral and then you leave Ral to explain to the rest of us that you don't want to be rescued and then you decide to play the victim?!"

"It wouldn't be a good guilt trip if I didn't would it?" Jace asked dryly. He knocked her off of him and jumped up onto a table and leaped up onto the steel bars that supported the lights that illuminated the room. He sat down and smirked down at her, "You're too short to get up here aren't you?"

"I'm taller than you you little shit!" Chandra yelled angrily.

"But I obviously have more jumping power than you," Jace offered in amusement.

Chandra glared up at him. He heard her growl. She was going to find her own way up into the maze of bars if it killed her. He had no doubt that she'd be able to balance along them once she got up there but he was content just watching her try to get up.

Rheah watched in amusement. She glanced at Michael and David, "Does this happen often?"

"About every time Jace makes a choice on his own without telling anyone so...yeah," Michael shrugged.

David's eyes widened, "Oh no! Michael."

"What?" Michael glanced at him curiously.

David pointed to where Jace was crouching near a trigger for one of the ice bucket traps. Chandra however dodged the icy water that came cascading out of it. She glared up at him, "Oh you are dead."

"I told you that this morning," Jace said flatly. He sat down again and looked down at her, "Besides, Michael and David put it there. I just triggered it for you."

"I don't care. They'll get what's coming to them later."

"Why?" Jace whined, "It's not like they've been nice to you at all."

"Ral's spoiled you too much," Chandra muttered. She managed to get up into the supports with a couple more attempts. Jace jumped back away from her as she shot forward, adeptly keeping her balance on the thin metal bars. Jace teleported behind her, "Wow. You really are slow." He ate his words a moment later when she knocked him off the bar he was standing on. He dropped towards the ground. He managed to land successfully and glared up at her, "That's not fair!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't run your face when you haven't one yet," Chandra crouched on the bar she was standing on.

Jace pouted. He telekinetically pulled on her boot, messing up her balance. She fell towards the ground. She landed on a table and rolled off of it. He appeared above her, standing on the table, "Maybe you should follow your own advice."

Chandra scowled up at him.

They were interrupted when Jenny came crashing into the cafeteria, "I found her!"

"Nix?" Sakura asked.

Jenny nodded, "Izzy and I-"

"Isabelle," Isabelle corrected heatedly.

Jenny shrugged, "Izzy and I managed to locate her."

"Where is she?" Sakura asked.

"Way way up north," Jenny said.

Jace rolled his eyes, "Of course.

"Northern coastline of Canada," Jenny shrugged.

"Not exactly. Near there," Izzy corrected.

"That's the Arctic Circle!" Erin cried in horror.

"It's the perfect place to hide a facility and organization that engages in illegal activities," Jace shrugged. He hopped off the table and walked over.

"You are _not_ going by yourself again!" Chandra snapped as she pulled to a stop beside him.

Jace looked at her, "Why not?"

Chandra leaned over him just slightly, "You may have a personal endeavor against these people but-"

"It would be suicide to go alone," Sakura cut in calmly, "The deities are named based off of their intended relative power levels. Athena is probably more powerful than even Zeus but that was not what was intended. In mythology Nix was more powerful than Zeus. Her wrath was something he feared."

Rick whistled softly, "So it's going to take a good number of us to take her on."

"That's if they've re-purposed her like they intended," Ral said.

"They have," Jace nodded, "They had already begun the process by the time I found out about it."

"Oh," Ral sighed, "So she won't be in a friendly mood."

"That depends on how dictated by her programing she is," Sakura explained, "The reason she was allowed to be on her own was so she could develop a personality and not remain entirely dependent on her programing to function."

"Would she be able to override it?" Chandra asked.

Sakura shook her head, "She would have if this had happened after she had returned with Apollo and me."

"Great," Izzy sighed, "So we're planning on taking on a _god_ that had Zeus running with his tail tucked between his legs."

"That certainly sounds like suicide," Lilianna nodded.

"Don't you think we should do more to prepare for this?" Rick suggested.

"Well," Sakura spoke up, "That depends on whether or not we want to go and hope we can get there before her personality is completely over powered."

"Never mind," Rick sighed.

"Let's just go and hope we don't die," Izzy rolled her eyes. She ran her fingers through her hair.


	29. Chapter 29

"Kurai!"

Kurai stopped, "I had an invitation from Rheah."

The angel's eyes narrowed dangerously. His hand hovered close to his weapon.

Kurai smirked, "Or I have important information for Rheah."

The angel turned to an archon and sent them ahead of Kurai.

Kurai turned and continued through the towering marble spires of the Inner Haven. Unlike the rusty red ground of the part of the realm that he and those like him called home the Inner Haven was very lush. Meadows and fields of long grass seemed to stretch on forever. The white buildings that surrounded him could've been considered beautiful if they didn't all look the same. The only different building was the citadel that the angel Lucelius and the Archangel's Council called home. It towered over the others and resembled a medieval cathedral. The stained glass windows depicted the God of Light in multiple different scenarios. It also depicted him as a benevolent and wise god even though he was neither. Ivory was extremely controlling. If one did not fit into his view of what light should embody then they were exiled at best.

Kurai shook his head, "Trust Ivory's chief pawn to paint him in a different light."

"Kurai," Rheah fixed him with a cold gaze from glowing blue eyes.

Kurai bowed, "Is it not true Rheah?" He rose back to his full height and shrugged, "I doubt Lucelius has grown beyond his hero worship of his god."

"That may be the case but that does not mean that your commentary is necessary," Rafael walked out from behind Rheah calmly.

"My sincerest apologies," Kurai smirked. He knew the Archangel of Temperance would pay him no mind. Rafael was never fazed by anything Kurai said or did.

"Kurai, you are here for a reason I'm assuming?" Rheah asked.

He nodded, "Yes. But I guess it would be important for Lucelius to hear what I have to say as well."

"Let's go," Rheah led him into the citadel.

The bright lights that illuminated the entrance hall were nearly blinding to the demon. The polished reflective interior walls did not help.

"Again?" Kurai recognized Saraqael by her voice.

Rheah nodded, "He said he wanted to talk to Lucelius."

Saraqael shook her head, "If not for you he'd be destroyed before he ever reached this place." She continued past them out of the citadel.

Kurai sighed, "Does this place have to be so bright?"

"Ask Lucelius." Rheah led him into the Archangel's Council room.

Kurai could feel the accusing eyes of ancient angels that were stuck in their ways. He could feel their hate filled gazes trained on him. Not all of them looked at him that way. The Archangel of Faith, Gabriel, seemed amused. Aemeira was glaring daggers at him from across the room. The warlord hated him for multiple reasons but was unwilling to break the promise she'd made to Rheah not to hurt him. Kurai smirked at her. He looked at the council members, "Only four of the better council, huh?"

"Kurai," Rheah snapped, "Sh."

"My apologies," Kurai knew he didn't sound sincere but he wasn't really. He glanced at Amy. _Notice she doesn't argue._

 _Stay out of my head Kurai. I'll behead you._

 _You wouldn't. You love Rheah too much._ Kurai pushed down the urge to snicker as Amy very obviously quelled her rage. He looked at the council, "Not to worry. I'll be gone after a quick conversation with Lucelius." He bowed and followed Rheah and Rafael through a doorway to a florescent green room. Kurai cocked his head to the side and glanced at Rheah, "Do you...have something to do with this?"

Rheah shrugged. A mischievous glow lit her eyes though she played innocent. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Amy had followed them into the room.

Lucelius was sitting in front of a desk. He looked wary as the group of four entered. His gaze lingered on Kurai longer than Amy but he was uneasy with both of them. He got to his feet and nodded to Rheah.

"It's amazing how much faith he has in your judgment," Kurai commented.

"You really aren't interested in existing for much longer are you?" Amy snapped.

Kurai glanced over his shoulder at her and smirked, "Actually I plan on existing for a long time."

"Then maybe you should-"

"Aemeira," Lucelius interrupted.

"It's AMY you numbskull1!"

Kurai snickered.

Lucelius sighed, "I apologize Amy. Even so I'm sure you can fight him somewhere else." He looked at Kurai. He was very much taller than the demon. However Lucelius was also very much aware of the fact that Kurai should not be underestimated. He had remained Onyx's favorite for much longer than any other being of darkness and not without reason. "Why are you here, Kurai? If it is just to antagonize then I'd suggest that you leave very quickly."

"Actually I'm here for a very important reason," Kurai said confidently. He pulled a sealed envelope out of one of the many pockets in his coat, "This is for you. Or Rheah. It doesn't matter to me." He pulled it away as Lucelius reached to take it, "However. Do not open it immediately. There are influences here that none of you can see. This envelope holds a summary of information I have gathered. It is not extremely detailed because that would've taken me much longer to collect." He held the envelope out again.

"Influences here we cannot see?" Rafael asked.

Kurai nodded. He smirked at Lucelius, "I do have allies and would be more than willing to come to your aid should you need it. However if you do not call for me I will not come, no matter badly it may appear you need my help."

Lucelius took the envelope, "If you're just playing another game Envy I will hunt you down personally."

"Of course _Lucelius_ ," Kurai made it a point to use the angel's name instead of his title.

Lucelius gritted his teeth but did not speak.

Kurai looked at Rheah, "That's it."

Rheah sighed and rolled her eyes, "Alright. Let's go."

The council glared at Kurai's back as he left. Rheah escorted him personally to the outer edge of the Inner Haven, "You really should be more carefully, Kurai." She paused and turned to him, "Many of Luxaeus would not tolerate your presence in the mortal world, let alone here, if not for my very existence. You can't go wherever you like and not expect consequences."

Kurai nodded, "Of course." He flicked Rheah's hair, "I miss the pigtails."

"You can suffer," Rheah shrugged, "They're impractical with how long my hair is."

Kurai shrugged. He smirked and disappeared into the darkness of the Outer Edges. _Your turn. Azazel._


	30. Chapter 30

Chandra cursed and slid backwards, "Echo any time now would be great."

"Ral and I are _working_ on it alright!" Echo snarled through the communicator, "It is not my fault you got impatient and decided to go into this fight prematurely."

"I got dragged into this one alright," Chandra snapped. She rose to her feet and looked at where Nix was laying waste. The robotic girl was surrounded in shadowy tendrils that lashed out at whoever got close. So far only three of them had reached her: Jace, Athena, and herself. They had yet to stay close enough to her to do any real damage.

Nix's normally distant but loving eyes were completely flat. A dark intent glowed deep within them. Her hair lashed and swayed like each individual strand had a mind of it's own. She wore a long Victorian era black dress. Unfortunately the obviously heavy article of clothing did not impede her speed or maneuverability any. The ground writhed and rippled in a radius around her like reality itself was being unraveled. Not even Isabelle, who could manipulate the fabric of reality, was that powerful.

Chandra gritted her teeth, "Maybe going into this without a solid plan wasn't the smartest idea." She leaped forward, ducking under a shadowy tendril. She managed to cut through the skin covering Nix's lower abdomen but was knocked back before she could damage any of the internal machinery. "Echo."

"HOLD ON!"

Chandra growled, "You really do need to go faster. She's turning us into a bloody paste."

"That is disgusting."

"You're concern for our well-being is overwhelming." Chandra studied the way the ambient energy flowed around Nix carefully. She had yet to actually touch them physically. Her tendrils had everything taken care of. However according to Sakura she had received extensive training in hand to hand combat.

Chandra looked around. Sakura, Jenny, Rick, and Yuri appeared to be unconscious. Isabelle was close to collapse and so were Michael and David. Athena appeared to be tired but uninjured. Jace looked like he could go on forever but Chandra didn't believe that for an instant. She was exhausted. There was no way he wasn't. Cristi and Jenny's friend Naomi had been told to stand guard over those that were unconscious in case they couldn't keep Nix occupied. Onyx and Caedrus were still up and ready to go but they also appeared to be at a loss in how to deal with the situation at hand. _Just me, Jace, Athena, and Izzy huh?_ Chandra bit her lower lip, "There has to be a way to get those shadows to chill the hell out." _There technically is a technical way. Removing shadow is as simple as brightening the light._ "ECHO!"

"Hold on. We're almost done. Just a little bit longer. Why the hell didn't you take Elspeth with you?!"

"She's helping you, you idiot!" Chandra hissed.

"She's not here!"

"Then that's her problem not mine!"

"Why do you two always devolve into bickering when you're trying to help each other?" Ral's voice rang through the communicator.

"For the same reason you and Jace do," Echo snapped.

Chandra continued to study Nix, "Are you done yet?"

"I said almost you impatient wench."

"Damn!" Ral sounded shocked.

Chandra couldn't help but snicker.

Jace circled Nix a relatively safe distance away. The shadowy limbs were on every side of her and acted of their own will. He would not be surprised if her hair could turn into a weapon as well. He felt the ground shudder underneath him and cursed, "This really isn't going well." He cast a quick spell. Everything around him faded to greyscale. He could see the energy flowing through Nix's mechanical body. It flowed similarly to the way mana flowed through a mage. Jace cocked his head to the side, "It's...it's like mana. It has clear tracks that it follows through the body instead of being focused in certain places." His eyes narrowed, "That makes this much easier." _Ral. Hurry it up!_

 _I'm working on it Cat Ears. I promise. We're almost there. Cain's still checking the calculations._

 _Tell him to forget it. We're going to **die** out here. _ Jace tried coming up at an odd angle at the same time Chandra came from head on. Both of them were knocked away. He rolled and skidded sideways along the ground.

 _It'll be unbalanced and-_

 _I don't care Ral!_

 _Fine. Fine! Activating it…_

Jace's eyes widened, "She's casting a spell. She's casting a spell. Ral hurry it up. Do it before she finishes the spell. Ral!"

 _Now! You should see it in two secon-_

 _I see it. I see it._

A broad dome or bright multicolored light filled the sky and area in a wide radius around them.

 _It's slightly unstable but it should work for now._

"Alright," Jace wrapped Nix in a barrier so her spell, whatever it was, wouldn't get past it.

Chandra let out an almost feral cry and flames leaped to life all around them. The shadows lessened somewhat.

Nix's spell went off. Jace's barrier visibly cracked. Shadows started to pour through the cracks, warping and destroying everything they came into contact with.

Jace cursed, "No. That's not good."

Athena reinforced the barrier. The cracks shrank but did not close completely.

Chandra appeared beside Jace, "I have an idea."

Jace glanced at her, "It's really really undeniably stupid isn't it?"

"Maybe."

"Elspeth and Dawn are going to curse your existence aren't they?" Jace asked.

"Ma-probably," Chandra nodded. She looked at him from the corner of her eye, "But is there a different choice?"

"Maybe," Jace shrugged. He cast a barrier spell around Chandra, "Go."

The redhead disappeared into the shadows. Athena cast her own protective barrier and followed. Jace exchanged nervous glances with Izzy. He put a barrier in the shape of a broad dome between them and the consuming shadows. He knew it probably wouldn't hold forever but it would work for his current purposes.

The sound of helicopter blades cutting through the air broke the sudden silence that had settled.

Jace jumped and looked up. He saw a helicopter floating above them. Standing in the open side was a young man with striking electric blue eyes. Jace was overcome with an odd feeling of familiarity with the boy though they'd never actually met. A name rang out in his mind. _Zeus._ "So that's Zeus."

"Zeus?" Isabelle looked at him from the corner of her eyes, "You mean he's like Athena and Hades and-"

"Yes." Jace rolled his eyes. He turned back to Nix. He could see shadows swirling within the dome. Flames and flashes of light reflected off steel appeared through the shadows every once in a while. _Chandra, there's no mind for me to read so you're on your own._

 _Got it._ She sounded exhausted.

Jace sighed. Truthfully he didn't want to fight Nix but that was the only way he could think to help her.

"You're fine Po-"

"It's Jace," Jace said darkly. He felt Zeus' hand on his shoulder. He knew it was Zeus. He turned to look at the taller boy. Electric blue eyes met deep sapphire ones.

"Sometimes there are things that only a specific person can do," Zeus offered.

Jace snorted, "Sure." He pulled away and walked right up to the barrier. He reached out with his hand and touched it. All of the cracks disappeared as he came into contact with it. _Her power ran through her body like mana would. That would theoretically mean that it is at least similar in many other ways as well._ He wrapped himself in a protective shell and disappeared through the barrier into the shadows.

Instantly he could feel them eating at his barrier, trying to drain him of his power. He could see a flame lined blade through the darkness. Everything around him faded to grey and he saw the deeper darkness that was Nix's power. _Perfect._ He summoned Echo's bow to his hands. The arrow instantly charged with mana. He felt the fluctuations in the Mana Blanket as it began to fail. The arrow flew true. Everything seemed to slow down. The shadowy tendrils lashed out but the arrow passed through them. As the arrow was about to pass through Nix, Jace made it corporeal. It embedded itself in her head. Instantly all of her main functions shut down. He knew it was only a temporary fix. Hopefully whoever Sakura had wanted to take her to would be able to fix her before her self regenerating programs finished fixing her current functions.

The fight ended just as abruptly as it had begun. The Zeus and Apollo projects were looking after those that had been outside Jace's barrier. As the shadows faded Jace saw Athena supporting Chandra. The two were better than he thought they would've been given how long they'd been fighting Nix on their own.

Jace walked up to Nix and knelt down beside her. "I just shut down all of her functions," he brushed her hair out of her face, "someone else will have to fix the programming problem. Before she regains consciousness preferably."

"I hate you so much. Why didn't you do that sooner?" Chandra flopped onto the ground next to him. One of her legs looked like it wouldn't hold her weight.

"It wouldn't have worked. I had to make sure that my presence wouldn't be known by Nix herself," Jace said.

"It really took you that long to do that?!" Chandra asked.

Jace shook his head, "Not really. I did debate whether or not I really should."

Chandra shook her head in amusement, "Really? I'm surprised."

"You really aren't in the position to be sarcastic," Jace muttered dryly.

The light of the Mana Blanket flickered before disappearing completely.

"I can be sarcastic if I like," Chandra snapped.

Jace shoved her, soliciting a growl of pain in response. He smirked, "No you're not." He helped her get to her feet and turned to Zeus, "You're going to want to-"

"One moment Poseidon."


	31. Chapter 31

Jace gritted his teeth.

Doctor Allen Hampton approached them. Anya walked next to him and the two were accompanied by a small army.

"Nix is my property."

"No one is your property," Chandra hissed.

"But Nix is a construct. It is not even a person."

"Doctor Allen Hampton," Zeus spoke calmly, "You were stripped of any authority you had over any portion of the Deity Projects when what you did to Projects Athena, Ares, and Hades became clear." His voice took on a dark warning tone, "Even _if_ they were your property they no longer would be."

Jace sneered.

"But that is unimportant," Anya said flatly, "My father worked hard to create the programming that would allow Nix to unleash her full power. He worked tirelessly to create the protocols for the Athena, Hades, and Poseidon Projects. They are his property and he can take their free will if he must. That would only be necessary if they were disobedient." She fixed Jace with a hard look, "Like they are being now."

Zeus' eyes flashed angrily, "The protocols were not approved by the Overseer. They were never a part of the projects' original designs." He glared at the doctor, "You twisted them for your own sick uses. Hera and I will _not_ allow you to bring any more harm to them."

"But you can do nothing for them when they work under the protocol," Doctor Hampton shrugged in mock apology, "Destroy every one of them except Nix, Poseidon and Athena."

"Project Hera," Zeus said calmly.

The sounds of automatic gunfire rang through the air. The Hera Project had already closed a near flawless phalanx before the shots were fired. The shields every member of the huge project carried expanded into a closed dome over everyone's heads. Unfortunately, the sounds of the bullets bouncing off the shields were amplified by the dome.

Jace heard Doctor Hampton laugh in his head, "Oh no."

Chandra sighed, "Don't worry about it." She pulled a small blade out of her boot.

"No wai-" Jace's eyes widened as a sharp pain shot up his arm. Instantly he felt tired. Black crept at his vision even while he stood. He could feel the protocol beginning to pick at his mind. Before it could get a hold he dropped to the ground and lost consciousness.

Chandra sighed. She was now on the ground as well.

"Didn't think that through much did you?" An unfamiliar girl held her hand out to her.

"Not much," Chandra shrugged. She grabbed the girl's hand and allowed her to help her to her feet. She noticed the girl had the same blue eyes as Zeus. She shrugged. _Whatever._

Athena had spent enough time learning to hold onto herself even through the protocol that she would be okay. Jace had not been comfortable with the idea and so hadn't bothered with it.

"Hera," Zeus was amazingly calm. He was also obviously referring to Hera's project since Hera herself was still unconscious from having been slammed around. "Begin to move south. I will have a helicopter waiting for us to take us back to Elendeth." He turned to address his own project, "Carry those that are unconscious. Help those that are wounded."

His entire project nodded in unison.

Chandra watched in awe as everything went exactly how Zeus had commanded. Everything was so organized and efficient. She whistled softly.

They made it to the helicopter relatively quickly. It was pretty hard to miss a giant golden dome unfortunately however. The members of the Hera Project were covered head to toe in armor that would more than likely be able to take a fireball more powerful than one Chandra could unleash dead on and come out with some light scorch marks. Bullets were shrugged off easily. The dome came down but the phalanx remained until the entire force was on the helicopter.

Apollo knelt down next to where Chandra was sitting. The creepily expressionless girl reached out her hands, "Take them."

Chandra took her hands in her own. They were icy cold, causing the redhead to pull away initially. However Apollo already had her in a surprisingly strong hold. Warmth flowed through Chandra's body and her wounds glowed and began to close. The pain slowly subsided.

Apollo rose to her feet, "Since you are an idiot that obviously has no interest in preserving her own existence that is all I can do. You will have to see a professional." Without giving Chandra a chance to respond she turned on her heel and walked calmly away.

"What the hell was that all about?" Chandra snapped, "I never said anything about not wanting to preserve my own existence! She's not even freaking listening to me!" The redhead continued to rage for the rest of the helicopter ride back to Elendeth.

Nix stayed in the helicopter to go with Zeus and most of the Hera Project. Although Sakura did stay in Elendeth due to Jenny's consistent pleading with her to do so.

"Phoenix!"

Chandra chuckled nervously as she heard Dawn yell at her from the other side of the hotel, "Oh boy."

Jace opened his eyes. He was suffocatingly warm. A simple glance around told him why. Tempest was curled up on his left side, burying that entire side of his body in warm fur. Jayden sound asleep on his other side and half on top of him. Jace gritted his teeth, "God dammit-"

"Cat Ears!" Ral yelled.

Jace jumped and stared at him, "What?"

"Do you have any idea how stupid of an idea it was to make us put up the Mana Blanket prematurely?! You and Beautiful could have _died_!" Ral scolded.

Jace rolled his eyes and felt every muscle in his body relax, "Ral. I get it. I'm sorry." He looked at him, "Can you get me something to eat though? I'm hungry."

"Oh my god Cat Ears," Ral sighed. He looked at Jace for a moment.

Jace pouted slightly, just enough that it would get Ral to do what he wanted.

"Fine. Fine!" Ral threw his hands up in surrender, "I'll get you some food. Hold on a moment."

"Thanks!" Jace called after him. Images flashed through his mind of the time Chandra had had Nix look after him. Nix had made him eat entire bowls of spaghetti simply because Chandra had told her that he could only eat and sleep. He sighed, "I hated that so much. I still haven't gotten her back for that. I need to do that." _How though? I mean I really should-_

"Jace."

Jace blinked and glanced at the doorway. Alice stood in the doorway holding an entirely unfamiliar book. He cocked his head to the side, "Where did you…?"

"I found it in the library and I think you should read it," Alice set it down on the bedside table that was positioned next to Jace's head. "It's a book of myths and legends but..."

"But?" Jace prompted.

"The events line up eerily to things I've heard you and Chandra talking about."

"Like how?!" Jace asked.

"You guys are talking about a treasure. You're trying to find it. The last time the treasure was activated it was in a battle against a demon that even gods ran scared from. It was activated by Serra who then sent it adrift in the multiverse. There are three pieces to the treasure. And Serra made activating them much more difficult by attaching a series of puzzles and trials to each one. They will key themselves to the people that manifest the attributes they represent. I've also heard you and Chandra talking about something about a time loop," Alice sighed, "You should just read the stories."

"Alright..." Jace sighed, "I'll read it when I'm no longer acting as a human pillow for two little demons."

Alice nodded.


	32. Chapter 32

"We had to shut down a Canadian news station because of your stupidity," Wyvern said coldly.

Chandra chuckled nervously, "Sorry about that..."

"Sorry?" Wyvern crossed her arms over her chest, "That's all you have to say?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Chandra nodded.

"Phoenix! Imagine what kind of chaos would occur if the world found out about the existence of the havens! Imagine all violence that would follow that discovery. If that news station had kept that information then the whole world would know that people that aren't human exist!"

"So? That's what the idiot who created the havens in the first place gets for keeping them secret," Chandra shrugged, "It'll happen eventually whether you want it to or not."

The argument cut short as the door opened. Jace stood in the doorway. Jayden was holding onto his shirt on his left side and Tempest was sitting calmly on his right.

Chandra cocked her head to the side. She glanced at Tempest's calm patient face, "You were eavesdropping weren't you?"

"How else was I supposed to know when the best time to interrupt was?" Jace asked dryly. He jerked his head down the hall, "There's something Elspeth wants to talk to all of us about Chandra."

She sighed and followed him. She threw open the door to the house they all shared and skipped in, "You wanted to see all of us?"

Elspeth nodded.

Sitting on the coffee table in front of the sofa was an obviously ancient book. Chandra was almost positive she'd never seen it before, which, given how much time she spent with Jace, was weird. "Where'd that come from?"

"No one knows. Alice gave it to Cat Ears," Ral shrugged.

Chandra looked at Jace.

"She said she found it in the library. I've read that entire library cover to cover-"

"Are you sure Cat Ears? Because you claimed to have read all the encyclopedias and then admitted later that you had only skimmed them because they were boring," Ral snickered.

Jace fixed him with a cold glare, "Yes. Ral. I am positive."

"Jace. Ral. Enough," Elspeth said sternly. She looked at Jace, "Continue."

"I've never seen it before," Jace finished with a shrug.

" _You've_ never seen it before?" Lilianna raised her eyebrow in surprise.

Jace shook his head.

Chandra looked around, "So what's so important about the book?"

"It's the entire story of this world, from beginning to end. Including the planeswalker that created it."

"A planeswalker created this world?" Kallist asked.

Jace nodded, "Apparently yes. According to the book an entity similar to a god created the multiverse as an experiment. This world was then created by a planeswalker by the name of Celestia Everlast. I haven't gotten much beyond that in the book. And that's the summary of what I read."

"Is the experiment going as planned?" Chandra asked in amusement.

Jace shrugged, "We'll never know."

"Damn."

"Okay...so why are we all here?" Lilianna asked.

"According to Alice, who has read the book from cover to cover, there are parallels in some of the stories to what's going on now," Jace said grimly.

"You know something, Cat Ears?"

"Is it relevant?" Elspeth asked.

"Well..." Ral paused, "I was just going to comment on how Cat Ears can make anything seem like it's a looming catastrophe."

"That's not relevant," Nissa whispered.

Chandra tried desperately hard to hold in her laugh so she didn't get in the same trouble that Ral was now knee deep in.

Jace glanced at her and shook his head, "Thanks for that Ral."

"But _you_ haven't actually read all of the book?" Lilianna asked.

Jace shook his head, "Not all of it. No."

"Then you can read the book and when you're done we'll discuss what to do from there," Chandra suggested, "You find out the parallels Alice mentioned and Elspeth can come up with something."

Elspeth glanced at her, "I can?"

Chandra nodded. She then shrugged, "Or Gideon. Or both. I don't care."

"Why not you?" Lilianna asked.

"I'm not the leader here," Chandra turned towards the door, "Enjoy your book Jace. I'm getting ice cream."

"Chandra! It's not even spring yet," Jace snapped.

Chandra laughed, "That doesn't matter." She glanced around, "Anyone else want ice cream?"

Everyone just kind of shrugged.

"I'll take that as a no. If it isn't a no you can get your own," Chandra skipped out the door and out into the light snow. _This place's weather pattern is so random. It's not even a pattern. Other than the fact that it's constantly prone to changing drastically within an hour._ She yawned, "I think I want...vanilla ice cream."

Jace sighed and flopped onto the bed in his dorm room, "Ral."

"What Cat Ears?"

"Why is the bag that _should_ be _in_ the box of crackers _outside_ of the box of crackers?" He asked in annoyance.

"I don't know Cat Ears."

"You don't know? Really?"

"Alright fine. Your mini me wanted crackers and I got them for him."

"Get him his own damn box then! Those were _my_ crackers."

"Cat Ears. Everything you see is yours in your mind. That doesn't necessarily mean it's actually yours."

"That's not true. That crackers are mine. Not everything I see is mine!"

"I was kidding Cat Ears. Jeez."

"Then make it clearer that you are," Jace snapped. He opened the book to the page he was on and continued reading.

 _Celestia Everlast disappeared shortly after creating the world. The creator goddess decided to make that world the site of a different experiment. She split the world into seven pieces, the five outer realms, Limbo (also known as the Space Between), and what would serve as the world of the living. She created four separate intelligent species._

 _Humans were well balanced, determined and stubborn but also the most likely to give into the darkness and their dark desires. Retiri were the faeries. Patrons of ancient and now lost magics, they were mentally and magically strong. Suri, or elves, were somewhere between the humans and the Retiri. They were gifted in any form of magic, quickly grasping it but also possessed some of the strong stubborn will of the humans. The final entity was the Tae'Rin. These stubborn beyond reason people were small and easily underestimated. However they were unnaturally strong for their relative size._

 _Kuru created other beings on other worlds of course. However I'm not here to tell you about that._

 _ **The First Era:**_

 _This Era began with the beginning of civilization. The first planeswalker to be born on this world was Serra. She was known by many as the first angel but she was not. The angelic appearance came around as a result of her power awakening. Serra's story is generally uninteresting until she seeks out other worlds. Out in the multiverse she makes friends amongst fellow planeswalkers or regular people._

 _Serra found a dagger lying on the ground. The moment she touched it a voice whispered in her mind. The voice spoke of destruction, death and blood. She dropped the blade and pulled her right hand close to her body. She noticed a dark black mark in her palm where she had held the cursed blade._

 _She didn't dare touch the weapon but knew she couldn't leave it lying around where someone else could reach it. Serra went into the nearby town and got a basket that she could carry the blade in without touching it. However when she went back for it, it was gone._

 _Days passed without event. However exactly a month after Serra had come across the blade there were reports of whole villages of people being killed. Every single body was mutilated beyond recognition. The people began to tell stories of a demon that brutally killed anyone that had forsaken the god that they held dear._

 _The demon began to be called Sinkarel. He had a vaguely human appearance but two rounded horns curled around his ears. His yellow serpentine eyes glowed with sick glee as he tore innocent people apart. He became powerful enough that even gods ran scared from him. Though he was not a planeswalker he could send that cursed blade adrift in the multiverse. When someone picked it up he began to drive them mad and drive them into summoning him to their world where he would continue his bloody celebrations._

"Well that would be the demon that Alice was talking about," Jace muttered.

"What're you reading?" Jayden asked.

Jace glanced at him, "The book Alice gave me." Jayden's voice was annoyingly squeaky to Jace. He also knew that the kid was around the age of five or six and so having a squeaky voice was understandable but it still annoyed him.

"What's it about?"

"Were you not listening-"

"What's this part about?"

Jace sighed, "This is about Serra."

"Serra," Jayden seemed to stare at nothing for many moments before wandering over to Ral's side of the room.

Jace rolled his eyes, "Ral. Get the kid something to have for lunch."

"Alright. What does he want for lunch?"

"Spaghetti!" Jayden squeaked excitedly.

"Alright, Mini Jace."

"Call him something else Ral," Jace growled.

"He's your mini me." Ral left.

Jace quickly finished Sinkarel's story. Serra had used the power of the Infinite Timelines to lock the demon within the very blade that he used to travel between worlds. Serra hid it away but the price was high. Half of her body, half of her essence, was consumed by the darkness the demon embodied.

Saraqael was the very first Living piece of the treasure. She could regulate the power that the treasure put out because she had the ability to activate it herself. Her magical ability allowed her to do that.

"So then logic would lead to the conclusion that if the Living piece can't use magic they can't regulate the energy output. Someone from the outside will have to activate, being consumed as Saraqael was. But the Living piece would also be lost," Jace muttered under his breath, "And to unleash all of that power all at once would be...devastating to say the very least."

 _Devastating beyond measure, Jace._

Jace lifted his head and looked around, "God da-Orriyon?" He cocked his head to the side. _But I thought you were gone._

 _I am but I'm not. You'll never know yourself but the reason Espers are supposed to be forgotten is because they go to a place were they wander until the lose hope. Once that hope is lost they disappear, lost forever in the mist._

"That...is awful," Jace shrugged. _But there's nothing I can do._ He returned to his book.


End file.
